Family ReUnited
by lexi.in.wonderland16
Summary: "You know that feeling when you have no idea about who you are anymore? When you've changed so much that you don't even feel that you're still who you were before? Well, I'm there. Sitting here, at my old house I know I'm there."
1. Amelia

* Hey everybody! If you read my last author's note you know that I am renovating this story from the beginning. I am going back to the beginning and starting again. If you were an older reader, and don't want to read it again, fine. If you want to read it again because it's going to be a little different, also fine. The chapter order is still going to be the same, and the characters are the same but they might have different names. I really want you guys to let me know if this is better or worse than the original. If you're a new reader, just review and let me know what you think! Thank you and I hope you enjoy the story. *

MIA POV

You know that feeling when you have no idea about who you are anymore? When you've changed so much that you don't even feel that you're still who you were before? Well, I'm there. Sitting here, at my old house, looking at an old picture of my family, I know. I'm there.

Born Amelia Rae Whitlock, I was born in Houston, Texas in 1846. My mother and father were very respected people in the city, and my brother and I looked up to them. My brother admired my father, and always said how he wanted to be just like him. My father died when I was fourteen and my brother was just out of school. He had a job and he was supposed to be getting married soon. It was a really bad time for my father to leave.

A year later, my family and I were really low on money. The civil war had just started, and everywhere you went you heard of young men joining the Confederate Army. My brother was one of those people. Although he was only eighteen, he had always been taller for his age, and he was very strong. My mother finally allowed him to join. It was a bad mistake on her part.

***FLASHBACK***

_"Why do you have to go away Jasper, I don't know what I'm going to do without you!"  
"Don't worry Amelia, I know how to take care of myself. Trust me, if I had a choice, I would've stayed with you, but I can't. It is my job to take care of this family now, and this is the only way I can do it."  
"I'll go, I'll fight instead of you-"  
"Amelia, give it up. You're crazy if you think that I'm going to even consider you going out to war. I'm sorry Amelia, but I have to go. I have to represent the South."  
"Fine."  
"Amelia, don't do this to me!"  
"I'm sorry, it's just I don't know how I'm going to get through the day knowing that you are risking your life, and I can't do anything about it! I won't have anything to do here except worry! I have no more important jobs here except fetch water!"  
"But Amelia, you have the most important job. When I leave tomorrow morning, it will be your job- no, your duty to take care of Momma. You're going to be the "man" of the house while I'm gone, and I'm going to need it in tip-top shape. You understand me soldier?"  
"Sir, yes sir!"_

_We ran around for a little while longer until I had started to get tired. Jasper picked me up and carried me home, knowing it could very well be the last time he would ever get the chance. Any other day, I would've argued that I could walk, but given the circumstances I gave him his moment. _

_He brought me home and I changed into my nightgown. Before I went to bed I wanted- I needed to ask Jasper one last thing. This was probably the most important thing I would need to ask him.  
I walked quietly downstairs, and I found Jasper in the main room reading. Of course._

_"Jasper?"  
"Amelia, what are you doing awake? You should be in bed, darlin'."  
"I just need to ask you somethin'. Can you do me a favor tomorrow before you leave?"  
"I guess, what do you want me to do?"  
"Wake me up so I can say goodbye. I may never see you again and there's something I need to give to __you. A good luck present, something to remember me while your out fighting."_  
_"Of course Amelia."  
"Do you promise? Promise you'll wake me up Jasper, I'm not kidding."  
"Yes Amelia, I promise. I'll wake you up before I leave."  
"Thank you. Goodnight Jasper"  
"Goodnight Amelia."  
I awoke the next morning to the sound of about five horses. _Jasper! He must've forgotten about me!_  
I ran outside as fast as my legs would allow, to find my brother inside the carriage that would take him __out to war. My mother was bidding him farewell, and crying at the same time.  
"JASPER!" I yelled, I wanted to pull him off of that carriage, but my mother held me back  
"JASPER!" I yelled again, but again, my mother held on to me tight. I knew that I wasn't going to get to him, so I yelled my final words to my brother.  
"JASPER, I LOVE YOU!"_

_I was being held tight in my mothers arms, half of it comfort, half of it making sure I didn't jump onto the buckboard that was being carried away by speeding horses. _

***END FLASHBACK* **

I never really forgave Jasper for not waking me up, but I understand now what I couldn't then. He was trying to protect me. Over the course of the next few months, my mother was a wreck. I did most of the chores, and I had learned to take care of myself. I taught myself how to read, and read most of Jasper's old books.

Jasper was a good person. He fought for what he believed in, and he was always able to comfort me. We used to spend our afternoons hiding from Momma in a meadow about a mile into the woods behind our house. We would play football and laugh and just have fun. We would talk about Jasper getting married and how Jasper was going to protect me from every boy in the county.

Jasper taught me right from wrong and he taught me how to stay strong when you couldn't take the pain anymore. Even though I can't really remember my parents anymore, I can remember him very well. I think about him when the blood lust takes over. He's the reason I'm here. He's the reason I haven't killed a human in over thirty years.

*** FLASHBACK ***

_I was in the meadow, waiting for dinner. It had been a two years since Jasper left. I was seventeen now. Momma said that I could take a break, for I had been doing a lot of the chores lately. Momma was growing very weak and fragile, and I didn't think she could take much more. When Papa died, she had been a mental wreck for weeks, but she recovered. Now, I was lucky if I could get her out of bed. I didn't like her, I never really liked her, but she was my mother, and I was worried about her._

_I decided that against Momma's wishes, I would go help her with whatever she was doing back at the house. The least I could do was chop some fire wood. I had taken on a lot of the masculine chores since I knew my mother couldn't handle those. Jasper had taught me how to do them when I was little, and I helped him as I got older and stronger. Now, it was my time to shine. _

_I was almost at the path when I heard a voice behind me:_

_"Look at those muscles, she's got to be strong"_

_I turned around to see two people standing on the other side of the meadow. One man and a woman._

_"C-Can I help you with something ma'am?" I figured I should try to be polite. I was a woman after all, even if I didn't like it._

_"What is your name?" The man asked me._

_"A-Amelia Rae Whitlock, Sir"_

_"Stop stuttering!" He ordered, "Do you have a brother, Amelia?"_

_"Yes, Sir, Jasper Whitlock, he's currently in the Confederate Army." I looked down at my feet. Bad idea._

_"She'll do." I then felt a pair of hands grab my wrists and pull me to the ground. The hands were cold and small. It had to have been the woman. She was too strong for me to even think about getting up. Then, the man came over to me and bent down so he was eye level. _

_"You're going to be a great addition, I can feel it."_

_He then lowered his head to my neck, and bit me. I could feel the fire racing through my veins. It was like nothing I had ever felt before. Worse than my brother tackling me, causing me to fall down the stairs, a thousand times worse than me tripping because I was running to catch up with Jasper on his way into town. This was fire, and it burned. Bad. _

_I don't recall how long I was unconscious for, but when I woke up, I saw two faces looking at me. The man and the woman from the meadow. _

_"Welcome back Amelia, how are you feeling?" Until he mentioned it, I had felt fine, but now, I could feel the fire lingering in my throat. _

_"My throat hurts, sir."_

_"Don't worry, we're going into Dallas tomorrow night, you'll get your feed then. By the way, I'm Kurt. The other woman in the field was Martha, my wife. Pay attention to me Amelia, I am going to give you a set of directions, if you don't follow them, you will be killed. Understand?"_

_"Yes, sir,"_

_"Outside of this building, there is a path. About a mile down the path there is a man. His name is Fredrick. Fredrick is going to take you where there are others like you. If any of them attack you, kill them. If not, leave them be. You are going to be a good fighter Amelia, don't ruin it."_

"_Yes, sir." _

_I left the building, still pondering what the heck this guy was talking about. Feeding? Fighting? I didn't understand anything anymore, and I had loads of questions, but as my father once said, "All relevant questions will be answered in time if you pay close enough attention to your superiors." I had a feeling that this Fredrick guy was my superior. If I listened and did what I was told, I would get all the answers that should be needed. Well, I hoped that was the case._

*** END FLASHBACK ***

I remember that day perfectly. It's my first memory as a vampire, so it's pretty clear. Turns out most of my questions were answered in time, and Fredrick and I became pretty good friends. He taught me how to fight, and I helped him with others like me. Other Newborn Vampires. We were partners for a little while, but I got switched around a lot because I flew up the ranks pretty fast. Like Kurt said, I had been a good fighter. They put me where I was needed, and no where else. Usually, I spent my days training newborns with Fredrick, but sometimes I would get out during the day and go home. I would go to my meadow and tell my brother everything that was happening to me.

One day, another newborn came, and he scared me. He scared me because I usually didn't pay attention to the newborns when they came. They were animals to me, and nothing they did affected me. I could kill them if I wanted, and I wouldn't think twice. But this one, this one had something about him that I just couldn't keep my eyes off of.

*** FLASHBACK ***

_"What's your name, kid?" I asked him as he was walking up the path. He was no doubt confused, everyone was when they came here. You looked around and all you saw were barracks of vampires who were fighting, and most of the time you didn't even know what vampires were yet._

_ "Tyler, ma'am." He said, and bowed. Okay, so he was from around here, and he was a gentleman. This could work. _

_ "Amelia!" I heard Fredrick yell from one of the barracks. One of those ding-dong newborns must be giving him a hard time. _

_ "Tyler, come with me." I said, and he did what he was told. He must've already met Kurt. Poor kid._

_ I walked inside the barrack where he was demonstrating how to kill another vampire. You rip __them apart and burn the pieces. We all knew that by our second day. It was the first lesson you learned in army camp._

_ "What do you want, Fredrick?" I asked him, and he just glared at me._

_ "Watch it Amelia, or I'll take you down. I'm not afraid of beating up a woman, if that's what you are." He said. _

_ "You wanna check?" I asked him, smirking. He rolled his eyes, but then noticed Tyler who was standing awkwardly behind me._

_ "You the new kid?" Fredrick asked, walking up to him._

_ "Yes, sir. I'm Tyler. Tyler Lowden." He said, good thing he didn't studder. They hated that around here._

_ "Well, Tyler, join the group. You look like a good fighter. How old were ya?" And the interrogation begins. I really didn't want to stay, but something about Tyler just made me want to make sure that he and Fredrick were going to get along. _

_ "I was twenty-two sir, a confederate soldier." Bonus points. I wonder if he knew Jasper?_

_ "Good job, kid. Now, get in line." He ordered, then turned to me, "Amelia, are you gonna stand there or help out?" _

_ "I can help if you need me Fredrick." I said, and walked over to him. _

_ After the lesson was over, Tyler came up to me._

_ "What's up, Tyler?" I asked him._

_ "Do we really have to kill like that?" He asked. He looked really upset. Nobody really liked killing when they first came here, I didn't, but it's something you need to get used to. _

_ "Yeah, I'm afraid you do." I said, and walked off._

_ "So, you're Amelia? So far, you're the only girl I've seen here, even though I haven't seen much. How did that happen? Girls can't be soldiers, can they?"_

_ "Not many, Tyler, but don't worry about it. I like you, Tyler. Don't get yourself killed, okay? Just do what they say, and listen to Fredrick. He knows what's happening, and he's a good guy to have on your side."_

_ "Alright. Hey, it was nice meeting you, Amelia."_

_ "You too, Tyler."_

*** END FLASHBACK ***

Tyler ended up being a good fighter, and we practiced together during the day. I told him everything about my family, and he told me about his life in the Confederacy. We didn't hide anything from each other, and soon, we became partners in battle. A few months later, we fell in love. Other than Fredrick, Martha, and Kurt, we were the oldest here. Everyone came to us for advice, and we were happy to give it.

Over the years, I also kept Martha and Kurt impressed which was a good thing. If you slacked, you were killed. If you disobeyed orders, you were killed. If you attacked another member of your cult, you were killed. Overall, if you weren't really good at following directions, and keeping yourself in control, you were killed. With Tyler, I didn't have to worry about any of this. We watched each other's backs and kept each other in check. We had our fair share of fights, but for the first time in a long time, I was happy.

My happiness didn't last very long after that. Pushing my hundredth year with Martha and Kurt, I wasn't doing as good as I once had been. In a battle, I almost died because I made stupid mistakes. You can't make mistakes, or you get killed. Martha and Kurt noticed that I was slipping up in battle, and they didn't like it. Fredrick told me to smarten up, or they were gonna put me on the list. Of course, Tyler got defensive, but I knew Fredrick was right. I just didn't fight as good as I used to be able to. I needed to run away.

I talked to others in the camp, and I found out that the north was a lot more civilized. They were at peace with one another, and there weren't any battles. When the Volturi came and wiped out pretty much our whole army, I had to leave. Tyler was with Fredrick, and Kurt had been killed. Martha was too busy dealing with that to worry about any of us. I ran, with no one else on my mind except for Tyler. This was gonna kill him, but after 100 years of fighting, I had to do it.

I didn't stop running until I hit Tennessee. That was where my life changed the most. Well, other than me becoming a vampire. I ran up to the mountaintops, not knowing what to find. Maybe some hikers or campers or something. I just wanted to make sure I was far enough from the city. I knew that I needed to camouflage myself now, and I couldn't be seen in public.

What I saw was almost better than a hiker or camper. It would've been better if I killed her. I saw a girl laying there, and she was crying. She was pinned back against a tree, and she was terrified. I remembered how I felt when I saw Martha and Kurt for the first time in that meadow. Fear. Uncertainty. Helplessness.

"Are you alone?" I asked her.

"My brother was just killed." She replied in fear. I knew that she wanted to run. I knew that she wanted to try and fight me off, but she had no hope. I took a step towards her and she screamed out in terror. Unfortunately for her, no one was going to hear her.

"What's your name?" I asked her in the smallest voice I could make. I had a feeling I knew what I was going to do with her, but I needed to know her name. Maybe it would take the guilt away.

"L-Layla." She whispered. She was so scared.

"I really hope you don't die, Layla." I said, and I bit her neck, not sure if I was going to be able to stop or not.


	2. Layla

LAYLA'S POV

"Are you alone?" The woman asked me. I didn't know what to say, I didn't want to say anything, but there was something about her. Something about this woman that made me want to trust her. She was scary, and had a cold look to her face, and yet, I trusted her.

"My brother was just killed." I told her. I instantly regretted it, because her cold eyes flew right to mine and I wanted to run. I wanted to pretend that this was a dream, and in a few seconds Emmett would be shaking me awake and would hold me until I felt safe again, but it wasn't going to happen. Emmett was dead. And as for me? I was as good as gone too. At this point, I had to try my hardest to get away. Five minutes ago, I wanted to die. Now, I want to go home. So, I screamed.

Startled, the woman let go of me, but she recovered much to fast for me to notice and grabbed me from behind. She flipped me around so we were face to face, and she looked at me with those cold eyes.

"What's your name?" She asked me. She was going to kill me. I knew there was no way I was going to live; she was much stronger and faster than I was.

"L-Layla." I managed to get out. _I don't want to die anymore god, I'm so sorry please I beg of you, please don't kill me._ I begged god. Why couldn't he hear me?

"I really hope you don't die, Layla." She said, and before I could even understand what she meant, the fire overwhelmed me, and I blacked out.

YESTERDAY

"Ma, she'll be fine, I know how to take care of my own sister!" Emmett complained as Mother was giving him yet another lecture on why taking me up to the mountains this weekend was a bad idea.

"Emmett Dale McCarty! Do not make me repeat myself! There is no way you are taking your baby sister into the mountains! You heard Gordy the other day, there is a serious bear problem, and until they sort that out no one is going near there, do you understand me?"

"Yes, ma, but-"

"No buts!" She interrupted him. This was not going to end well, so I stepped in.

"Look Emmett, as much as I would love to go, mother said no, and we need to respect her decision. Plus, I don't really want to be eaten by a grizzly anytime soon." I added on.

"I could take on any grizzly." Emmett mumbled, but we all heard him.

Mother just shook her head and said, "No one is going into the mountains, and that is my final word on the matter." Then, she walked out of the den and started to prepare dinner.

"You know, shorty, sometimes I wish she wasn't so strict about you. If it was only me, or Frank, or Rudy, she wouldn't have no problems, nope, it's only when we add you to the mix. Then, she gets all strict and doesn't let us have any fun." Emmett mused to himself. I honestly didn't think that going into the mountains was a big deal, but if it's getting Emmett down like this, it must be something special.

"Don't you wanna see the mountains Lay? They've got the prettiest view your eyes will ever see. You out of any of us would love it. You're into that sunset stuff."

"I _would_ like to go see it I guess, but you heard what mother said, it's too dangerous."

"She's just filling you with propaganda. I've been up there every weekend checking it out, making sure it's safe for you and I haven't seen one sign of a grizzly, or any other kind of bear. We all know Gordy's gone mad, I don't know why all of a sudden ma's believing him."

"Maybe, but I don't really want to be up there alone if for once he is right."

"Hey, I got an idea." Emmett whispered to me, "Maybe we could sneak up there for a night. Just long enough for you to see the sunset, and we'd come home the next day. It'll be an easy hike for you, so I'm not worried too much on time. I can have Frankie cover for me if I need to, he won't care."

"Yeah, as long as Rudy doesn't find out." I said, jokingly. I thought he was kidding, I guess I was wrong.

"Alright, so we'll leave early on Saturday, so make sure you do extra chores Friday, okay? And don't let ma in on anything either." Wow, I was actually going to go into the mountains. I wasn't sure whether I should be happy or not, but for right now, I didn't really care.

"It's a plan." I said, confirming.

Friday went by fast. Mother woke me up early and we made breakfast for Frank, Emmett, and Rudy before they headed off to work. After that, we cleaned most of the house and even got to patch up some of the wholes in the boy's clothing. By the time dinner came around, I still thought it was early morning.

To say I was excited was an understatement. I had warmed up to the idea of going into the mountains, and even though we were going behind mother's back, I thought back to the stories that Emmett and Frank and Rudy told of the view and the fresh air, and everything went back to normal. No more fear, no more regret.

EARLIER THIS MORNING

That Saturday, Emmett woke me up when it was still dark out. He said we were going to try and make it before the sunrise, so I could see that instead. We went outside, and he had a lantern, and a backpack full of tents and food for us if we needed to stop. I also noticed a hunting knife, even though I don't think I was supposed to. I didn't say anything about it though.

Emmett was right, the hike wasn't that bad. We made it in about three hour's time. Perfect timing to see the sunrise. All of the colors were just so beautiful, and the way the sun shone, it was indescribable.

"Wow, that is, something." I finally said when it was light out. We had to start heading back soon, mother was going to be mad, but she'd get over herself.

"Yeah, I told you so." Emmett said, and smiled, "Well, we should get going, ma's gonna get worried about you."

"She worries about you too." I said.

"Not nearly as much. I get it; I'm a man now. We don't need out mother's looking out for us, but hell, Layla. You're still a kid. You need someone to tell you what to do."

"I am not a child anymore, either! I am fifteen, and that makes me a woman! In two years, I'm gonna get married!" I said in my defense.

"Yeah, okay." Emmett said, and got up. When he did, he just stopped. Nothing moved, no one said anything.

"Emmett, are you-" I cut myself off. Right in front of us was the biggest grizzly bear I had ever seen in my life.

"Shh" he said, and after a minute, possibly the longest minute of my life, he spoke again, "When I count to three, I want to you run. I want you to run fast, and I want you to run far, do you understand me?"

"You can't honestly expect me to leave you here alone with a giant grizzly do you?" I wasn't going to leave him. If I ran, the bear would come after me. Emmett would get in the way, and he would die in the process. NO, that wasn't going to happen.

"That's exactly what you're going to do. And then you are going to tell Ma that I'm so sorry, and that I love her. Then, you are going to give her a big hug for me. "

"No." I said, starting to cry a little. I wasn't going to loose Emmett. I wasn't going to loose my big brother.

"Layla, I love you. You need to be brave for me, okay? This is the only way I know how to get you out of here safely. I need you to do this. I love you so much, but I need you to go."

"I can't." I cried. "I can't go on without you."

"You have to, Layla." He said, strictly. It's the strictest he's ever been to me. I didn't want to leave him, but he was right. This was the only way.

"Okay, I love you, Emmett. I love you so much and I'll never forget you. I'll remember always how you used to protect me from the monsters in my bedroom and how you would always stick up for me. You are my favorite brother, and I will never forget you. I love you."

"I love you too, Layla. Are you ready?" He hadn't taken his eyes off of the bear that was inching closer to us with every minute. I was balling at this point, even though I hadn't made a sound. The tears just wouldn't stop.

"No, but when will I ever be? If now is the time I need to go, then I will go." I responded. I would never be ready to watch my brother die, but I had to go sometime, and I guess it was now.

"One."

"Emmett, I love you." I said.

"Two."

"Emmett, I'll never forget you." I said.

"Three!" He yelled and I took off. I ran faster than I ever had in my life, and I swerved in and out of the trees. I tried not to hear anything; I tried to block out the pain in my chest, the aching of my heart. I knew my brother was suffering right now, and it took everything I had not to go back. Not to go see his dead body.

After about five minutes of running, the pain was unbearable. I stopped running. I hadn't made it very far, but I had made it far enough. I didn't think the bear would come looking for me here. I couldn't help myself. I felt like I was going to die. I wanted to die. I didn't want to be the person to go home and face mother, just to tell her that her youngest son had died saving my life. I didn't want to see Rudy and Frank when I told them that their baby brother had been killed by a grizzly bear. I didn't want to see them cry. I didn't want to see them like me. Because then I would have to be the strong one, and I couldn't be that.

WHERE WE BEGAN

I heard footsteps, and I started walking away, in fear that it was the bear again. I knew that I probably wouldn't be so lucky this time with escaping. If it was the bear, it would catch me and I would die. That is why I dropped down.

"I give up!" I shouted, even though no one could hear me. No one would ever hear me again.

"Just take me you stupid bear! Take me like you took my brother! Rip me to pieces like you did him, and think nothing of it you sadistic beast!" Why I was yelling this, I didn't know. I just needed to get it out.

While I was having my rampage, I hadn't noticed that a woman was standing beside a tree watching me. She ran up to me at a remarkable speed, and although I was scared, I didn't run. I wanted to die. So just kill me.


	3. Arissa

* Whoa, an update? What is this? Haha, I'm SO sorry that I haven't been updating as much as I said I would be. I just haven't been up to writing. Just a very quick thing that I need to address first. I have recently gotten a review on this story about how it makes to many inappropriate references to the Holocaust, and I think that is mostly because I used a few war terms in the first chapter that could be associated with this event. THESE ARE JUST WAR TERMS. If I offended ANYONE at all, please, let me know and I will try to fix things as much as possible. That goes for any chapter in this story, and any of my other stories. I am not here to offend anyone, I'm here to write. And please, I am willing to change anything, so if you have a problem or concern with something I'm writing, please address me first before reporting me for abuse. With that said, please enjoy this chapter, a lot has changed since the original.*

**Disclaimer:**_ Any recognizable characters in this story I do not own. However, I do own Arissa,Layla, Mary, and Mia, as well as the Ivanovs. _

ARISSA'S POV

My father was dead. My mother was dead. And for all I knew, my brother was dead as well. My sister had been lying to me for the past year, and she didn't know that I knew, but I knew. It wasn't all that hard to figure out once you put all of the pieces together. I hadn't seen father in over a year, mother had disappeared, and Edward had been gone for a while as well. I don't know why Anna thought that I could be oblivious to that, but apparently she thought I was dumb. I heard a knock on my door, and I knew who it was.

"Arissa, we have to talk." Mary told me. I didn't want to talk. She was finally going to confess, and for some reason I was scared. Maybe it was because I was finally going to get closure, or maybe it was just because discussing this with her would make everything real and true. Either way, it wasn't going to be a tea party.

"Yes, we do." I said, opening the door. Realization crossed her face when she saw the look on mine.

"You know." She stated. It wasn't a question. It didn't have to be.

"How long did you think you could keep this from me, Mary?" I was almost crying again. Almost. I didn't like crying in front of Mary, she was always so superior, and I was always her subordinate, and crying just made it more escalated.

"Long enough for me to be able to talk to you about it." She looked down. For once, popular girl Mary who everyone in town loved was ashamed of herself. It served her some good.

"How dumb do you think I am? Did you honestly think I wouldn't find out sooner or later?"

"I do not think you are dumb, Ari." Oh, that's cute she used my pet name.

"They're all dead aren't they? Mother, Father, Edward. They're gone." I needed to know. I needed closure.

"Yes." She said, but continued, "Ari, I'm so sorry. I didn't want you to find out like this, I wanted to be able to talk to you, but I needed time and-"

"And it didn't occur to you that I might be wondering where my parents are?" Mary grimaced.

"Arissa, please, I understand that you are mad, but what would you have done in my position? I needed time to grieve to!" My sister started to cry. I had made my sister cry.

For the first time in my life, I thought about what I was going to say.

"Mary, I know that you were trying to take care of yourself, but you were wrong. Just like every other situation you've been put in since you were born, you were going with the route that would benefit yourself." I took a breath, and she just stood there, crying. The worst part was that I didn't regret saying any of this. I could've cared less. "That is why I'm leaving. I am sixteen now and able to make a life of my own. I can't live with you anymore Mary, not if you're going to be pulling stunts like this. I know I'm not the greatest sister in the world, but I've been nothing less than honest to you, and I think I deserve that much back. There is no way I can live knowing that you lied to me. I don't think I could ever forgive you for this." Mary's eyes grew wide with shock. I've got to admit though, those last few sentences killed me to say. I might not always show it, but I did love my sister. Edward had always been there to protect me, and to play with me, but Anna had always been there to show me right from wrong. She had been there for me when I was sad or had a nightmare, and even though we weren't as close as the bond between Edward and myself, we were sisters, and that bond alone was strong.

"Arissa, I'm so sorry." She choked out.

"Me too, Mary." I said, and I walked out the door, never looking back.

THREE MONTHS LATER

"Miss Masen, would you please bring us something to drink?" Mr. Merrimon asked.

"Yes, Mr. Merrimon." I answered and walked into the kitchen. I had been working as a servant to Mr. and Mrs. Merrimon for a few months now, and even though at times it could be stressful, it was worth it. I had a place to live in, food, and I was lucky enough to be able to belong to a respectful family. Mr. Merrimon never hurt me, and Mrs. Merrimon treated me as a daughter. I was lucky because I knew this wasn't always the case with servants, and I was fully aware of that coming into this.

"Here you are, sir, is there anything else?" I asked Mr. Merrimon and his guests. He was having a meeting about something. He was a politician, and I usually minded my own business when it came to meetings at the house. More so out of respect than anything else, though.

"Actually, Arissa, why don't you take the day off? Katherine is with Lydia and Michael, so there is no further need for you here. Go enjoy yourself." See what I mean?

"Thank you very much, Mr. Merrimon." I said, happily, and ran to get my shawl.

_ You should go visit Mary_. A voice chastised in my head. _No._ I countered, _I can't. I'm not ready yet._ I still didn't forgive her about lying to me. I had been very happy here these past few months and I wasn't about to ruin it with a trip to my sister.

"Excuse me, miss?" Some man said, catching my eye as I walked down the street. He was very elegantly dressed, and he kept following me. Mary had warned me of men like this, rich folk who needed "somebody to love." They were no good. Stay away.

"Miss?" He said, and he was still following me. Right then and there I probably made the worst mistake of my life. I turned onto an empty alleyway.

"Perfect." The man said, and he was right behind me now. I could've sworn he was at least a few yards behind me, I wasn't that slow, but I guess I had underestimated his speed.

"What do you want?" I said, removing the nice act. This guy was creeping me out, and I didn't like my outlook.

"Your delectable, voluptuous, blood." He said, and grabbed me from behind. Before I could scream, I was knocked out.

It was the worst pain I have ever felt in my life. I couldn't move, I was pinned down by something. Or someone. I didn't want to know. Even if I could, I didn't want to in fear of making the pain even worse than it already was. I couldn't describe the pain to you if I tried. Picture falling down the stairs and breaking your leg, then getting up and running in a cross country meet. Times 100. That still wouldn't describe the amount of pain I am in. Screaming did no good. It didn't dull the pain any less. If anything, it made it worse. It wasn't dulling any either. It was still the terrible burning pain that I felt when I woke up.

"It's alright, it's going to be alright, sweetheart. You're going to be fine." A voice whispered. I swear, if that was that same chowderhead that sent me into that alley in the first place, I was going to kill him.

"Can she even hear you, Misha?" Another voice said. It was a girl this time, though.

"I don't know, but I don't want her to be alone in this. She's part of the family now." The man from before said.

"You don't know that, Misha." A different woman scolded.

"All the same, she doesn't need to go through this alone. We can at least give her an option."

"True that, brother." The girl said.

"How much longer?" Another woman's voice came into the room. How many people were out there?

"Shouldn't be long, Mika. Listen to her heart." My what? Please tell me they weren't going to eat me too. Although, at least then I would die faster. I tried lifting my arms up again and still couldn't. I screamed out in anguish. I just wanted the pain to go away.

"I know, it's almost over, kiddo, it's almost over." The man cooed. I hoped that he realized I was sixteen, not five.

The pain started to leave then. I sighed in relief, but took it all back. As soon as the pain left my arms and legs, it seemed like it was all going to my chest. Picture getting shot in the chest and then digging the bullet out yourself, and then repeating it ten thousand times. Like before, that wouldn't even explain the pain, but it gives you a general idea. Let's just put it this way. I screamed and twisted and turned and tried to do everything I could to get out of this grip I was in and kill myself.

Hours later, it seemed, the pain started to die down. Hopefully for good. The fire disappeared from my chest, but there was still this burning in my throat that wouldn't go away.

"It's over." The woman said.

"Can you hear me?" The man said, "It's over now, the pain's gone. You can open your eyes, now." I did what I was told, and started freaking out.

"It's alright, hey, it's alright." The man said, "Do you know what you are?"

"Where am I?" I asked. My eyesight was very weird, and I could hear _everything._ Something was going on, and I had a feeling I wasn't at a tea party anymore.

"I found you in Chicago with another one of our kind. The damage had been done, and you weren't going to live much longer, even in a hospital especially with the Influenza epidemic."  
"How'd you find me?" I asked, this was still creeping me out, but I was calming down now. A little. Not at all, actually.

"I was with my sister when I caught the scent. We decided to track him, not many of our kind live in big cities, and that was when we saw you. I killed him, and my sister, Mika, made sure you were okay. Unfortunately, like I said, the damage had been done."

"You keep saying, 'our kind,' what does that mean?"

"We're vampires." Oh shit.

"My name is Mikhail, and I live with my sisters, Mika, Elizaveta, and Anya, and my mother, Evelina. She was the one who changed all of us."

"Your names are really weird." I said, without catching myself. I really hoped they didn't throw me out for that.

"Well, sweetie, you're not in Chicago anymore." The older woman, Evelina, said. What did she mean "You're not in Chicago anymore?"

"Where am I then?"

"Russia." One of the girls answered. There were three, and they actually looked like sisters. They were in height order too. There was a tall one, and medium one, and a short child-like one. She couldn't have been older than me.

"Wow, that's far." I said, trying to take it all in. The sight, the smell, the hearing, everything. It was so overwhelming.

"Well, anyway, aren't you wondering about how we get our food?" The middle girl piped up.

"Oh, yeah, the blood." I wasn't looking forward to that, to say the least.

"Don't worry, we don't drink human blood. You don't have to either if you don't want. We drink animal blood. It isn't as satisfying, but it keeps you alive. We don't kill humans for fun, either. We're very respectable vampires, you won't find many out there like us." The short girl said. I would learn their names later.

"Because that makes drinking blood so much better." I said, sarcastically. This was not one of my favorite things about being a vampire.

"Come on, I'll take you out hunting," Mikhail said. _Hunting._ That was a nice way of putting it. Not.

"Can't wait." I said, and he ran out the door. I followed after him, learning one thing. Super speed. It's awesome.

I had been living with the Ivanov family for two years now. I was completely over my "newborn" stage, and even though I didn't have complete control over my thirst, I was in better shape than I was two years ago. The only problem was, I missed Mary. A lot.

Seeing how my sisters acted around each other reminded me a lot of the relationship I used to have with my own sister. The arguing, the fighting, but the sense of security all the same. Someone who understood you. After a while, you could tell that Mika, Elya, and Anya weren't related by blood, but something stronger. Venom.

It was another week with this guilt and torture eating me alive before Mika, the oldest, finally said, "Go."

"Go where? There's no where to go." I responded. I was pretty sure Mika wasn't a mind reader, but she surprised me sometimes. I guess I was just easy to read.

"Go see your sister."

"How'd you-"

"I see the way you look at Elya, Anya, and I. It's full of envy. Longing. I was the same way. Believe it or not, those two are older than I am. I left my baby sister behind. When I saw these two, it broke my heart.

"I think it's a little different for me." I said.

"How so?" She asked, we were watching little Anya fight big Misha, and she was surprisingly kicking his butt, although I'm sure he was throwing the game a little bit despite her strict instructions not to.

"I left my older sister before I changed. I told her I didn't want to see her ever again. Or, at least, it was implied."

"That's too bad. What happened?"

"She lied to me about my mother and father's deaths, on top of my brother's. I couldn't forgive her."

"Well, maybe now's the time. Go, patch things up before it's too late. You could pull off eighteen if you tried, but what about in a year or two? When you would be twenty, twenty-one? It would be far too late. Go now while you still can."

"You know what? I think I will. Thanks, Mika." I smiled and hugged her. Elya and Anya were close, but Mika and I were just as close. Not nearly as close as when the four of us were together though.

When I got to Chicago, I didn't even know if Mary would still be there. I assumed she would, but she might have left because of all the old memories. I would have.

When I got to my street, I walked into my old house to find my sister in the same spot I had been when I was reading that night before I ran away.

"Michael?" she asked.

"Who's Michael?" I returned. She got up, and looked into my eyes. She didn't know who I was. Had I really changed that much?

"Come on, Mary. Don't you remember your own sister?" I asked jokingly. I saw recognition cross her face, and she came running over to me. Her blood...stop. Don't go there, Arissa. She's your sister.

"Arissa? Good Lord! It is you! But, your eyes..." She trailed off.

"What's wrong with my eyes?" I wondered

"They're different." She said, examining my face. I had put on some make-up, but I guess she could still see right through me.

"You haven't seen me in two years, Mary, you look different too. Relax."

"Alright, I guess so. Would you like anything to drink? We have tea."

"Um, sure." I said, wondering how I was going to get that retched beverage down my throat without being the first vampire in existence to throw up.

She came back in the room with a tray, and made me my own cup.

"So, who's Michael?" I asked.

"Oh, no one, just, my husband..." She trailed off.

"Just your husband?" I asked, laughing and she started laughing too. "Congratulations, Mary."

"Thank you." She said, but then she did the stupidest thing you could do in front of a vampire. Worse than go down a dark alleyway alone. The staple in the tea bag pricked her finger, and she started bleeding.

"Oh, shoot. Sorry, Ari. I'll go take care of this." She said, and got up. I couldn't go after her. _If you bite her, you won't be able to stop, you know that._ I kept trying to tell myself to get over it, but her blood was just calling to me. I couldn't help myself. I walked into the kitchen, grabbed my sister from behind, just like that vampire had done to me two years ago, and started to suck my sister's blood.

As soon as I did this, I regretted it. My sister was growing limp in my arms. I had to stop. I wasn't going to let her die like this. At this point, I was as bad as that vampire that killed me. Except I was worse. I killed my sister.

* Thank you guys so much, and hopefully I haven't lost too many of you on my little break that I took. I don't know when I'll update again, as I have two other stories as well, but hopefully it will be soon as I do have a plan for the next chapter :-) *


	4. Mary

MARY'S POV

"Arissa isn't back yet?" I walked into the living room to find Mia sprawled out on the floor looking at the newspaper. Layla and I had been hunting for the past few days, and Arissa, she had been missing for a year now.

"Take a guess, Mary." Mia said, rather annoyed. I wouldn't blame her. If the situations were reversed, I would be acting the same way. She hadn't grown up with anyone to look after her, so she didn't think it was a big deal for Arissa to just disappear like that, but I did. It was probably the older sister in me.

"Has she even called yet?" She usually at least calls us every few weeks or so to check in. She was supposed to be in Russia, but Mikhail called us a few months back to check on her and surprise surprise, she wasn't here.

"Mary, calm down. Riss knows how to take care of herself. She's strong, you know that. If she hasn't called, it's probably because she's busy doing something." Layla said as she walked in. Layla didn't talk often, but when she did she was usually worth listening to.

"Yeah, or just goofing off with some perverted piece of-"

"Amelia, that's enough." I scolded. She glared at me, and I knew exactly why, but I didn't care. I knew very well of my sister's...habits, and even though I didn't like it, there wasn't anything I could do about it, so I just tried to ignore it.

I guess that I had taken the motherly role of my sisters. We never had one single creator, I mean Mia created Layla and Arissa created me, but we were all in agreement that they weren't going to control us. Most of the time, _they_ were the ones who needed controlling. Then again, Arissa was fine before Mia came along. They're good for each other though. As much as I hate to admit it, they keep each other in check.

Just then, the phone rang. I was the first to it.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Mary?" The voice on the other end said. It sounded like Arissa, but I couldn't be sure. Especially since she hadn't called in over two months.

"Yes, this is her. Who is this?"

"Cummon, don't you recognize your own sister?" Arissa said, joking around.

"Where the hell have you been? You haven't called in-"

"Mary, chill out, okay? I'm fine, and I'm calling now." Mia came over to the phone and took it away from me. I protested a little, but she was a lot stronger than I was and I didn't really feel like breaking another phone.  
"Where are you?" She asked, strictly. She was the most effected by Arissa's disappearance. They were the closest out of all of us, and it really bothered her that Arissa never told her what she was up to.  
"Open the front door, and you'll find out." I heard Arissa say from the other line. I ran down to the front of the apartment building we were staying at and saw none other than my sister, standing out there with Mikhail.

"Hello, Mary." Arissa said, glumly. Mikhail looked upset too, I wonder if something had happened to her.

"I suppose you didn't come home on your own?" Arissa shook her head.

"Nope. Mikhail started tracking me when I made a run through Russia to get to Europe. Damn vampires." She said as she kissed him on the cheek.

"Are you two going out or something?" I was never sure with them. They were very off and on. I was pretty sure they were more like brother and sister, but you couldn't be sure if Arissa was involved.

"Nope. He's just returning me to my castle." She said, and ran upstairs. I could hear someone scream and knew that Mia had found her. I just rolled my eyes in hope that no one else in our building noticed the crashes.

"How are you, Mikhail?" I asked, solemnly.

"Better, now that I know she's safe. I don't know how you did it when she was a human."

"Easily, she wasn't a rebel." I vaguely remembered the time when my sister actually behaved and did what she was told. Then again, the situation was a little different back then.

Mikhail chuckled, "Riya? _Not_ a rebel? I would've liked to see that."

"It is pretty hard to believe, isn't it?" I laughed a little at some of the memories. Not only did she behave, but the two of us were best friends.

"Yes, well, I've got to go. My mother was worried about her as well as my sisters, and I should tell them that she's safe at home with you three now. If you need anything, you can always call me." He smiled, and ran off. He was a good person. He had helped my sister through her newborn stage as well as me through mine, and he had become part of my family. I really hoped that he would see that someday.

When I walked upstairs, I saw Layla and Mia sitting beside Arissa on the couch. Mia was looking at something on Arissa's face, and when I turned to get a better look, it was a giant scar that ran from her temple to the underside of her chin. How I didn't notice this before, I had no idea.

"What the hell happened to you?" I asked her. Mia just looked up at me.

"She won't tell us. I tried to get it out of her, but she won't tell me."

"It doesn't matter where I got it," She finally said, "When I was...out, I stayed with the Volturi for a while. I left when they started to plan a big massacre on someone and their family for breaking the law."

"Who was it?" Mia asked, eager to know the details. None of us liked the Volturi, especially Mia.

"Carlisle Cullen." She whispered out. I swear on my mother's grave, if I could pass out, I would.


	5. Destination: Forks

**Previously: **

_MARY POV_

_When I walked upstairs, I saw Layla and Mia sitting beside Arissa on the couch. Mia was looking at something on Arissa's face, and when I turned to get a better look, it was a giant scar that ran from her temple to the underside of her chin. How I didn't notice this before, I had no idea._

_ "What the hell happened to you?" I asked her. Mia just looked up at me._

_ "She won't tell us. I tried to get it out of her, but she won't tell me."_

_ "It doesn't matter where I got it," She finally said, "When I was...out, I stayed with the Volturi for a while. I left when they started to plan a big massacre on someone and their family for breaking the law."_

_ "Who was it?" Mia asked, eager to know the details. None of us liked the Volturi, especially Mia._

_ "Carlisle Cullen." She whispered out. I swear on my mother's grave, if I could pass out, I would._

**Present:**

MARY POV

"Wait, like _Dr. _Carlisle Cullen?" I tried to get out calmly.

"No like Carlisle Cullen: America's Most Wanted. Who do you think?" Arissa snapped. Mia started mumbling something to her, but I didn't want to listen. We were both thinking the same thing. If Dr. Cullen was alive, and the Volturi wanted him, he'd have to be a vampire. If he was a vampire, there was a possibility that Edward was a vampire. A slight possibility, but a possibility. It was good enough for me.

"So what are we gonna do now?" Layla asked sheepishly. She didn't like the idea of breaching the Volturi anymore than I did, but the look on Arissa's face said we weren't going to just sit here and do nothing.

"We're going to Forks, Washington." Arissa stated, getting up from the couch, "Layla, you call the school and find a way to get us enrolled. Mary, you can look for a house since I know you're gonna bitch about whatever I pick out. Mia and I are gonna head to the library to figure out a little about our dear brother. I want to be out of here by tonight. If the Volturi are going on an execution mission, they aren't going to wait long. If there's a fight, I want to be there."

"I'm not going to take you all on some suicide mission!" I yelled at her, "Are you crazy? We won't win in a fight against the Volturi! You _know _that, Arissa. You can't just go off on yourself because of some rumor!" This was where I put my foot down. I put up with a lot from my sister, but I wasn't going to let her lead us to our death.

She just looked at me with the same look that she gave me before she walked out some hundred years ago.

"You owe me." Was all she said.

"That's the thing, Arissa. I used to owe you. I don't anymore. You ruined that when you changed me." She knew that. I don't know why she insisted on bringing it up.

"You know I didn't mean to." She said, looking at her feet.

"And you know I was just trying to protect you." I retaliated.

"Fine, you know what. I don't care, Mary. If you don't want to go, fine. I'll go by myself. You three can stay here. It wouldn't be any different than the last fifty years." She walked into the kitchen and grabbed her car keys. Mia followed her out and I felt a little better. Mia might be completely naïve and reckless, but she wouldn't let Arissa get hurt. That went both ways, too.

MIA'S POV (Three hours later)

"Okay, Riss? I know how you are obsessed with figuring out what happened to your brother, but I don't think I could read another article or book if my life depended on it."

"That's okay, I'm about done too. Did you find anything?" Riss asked, walking over to my table. She had been reading obituaries for the past hour, and was kind of moody because of it. I don't really blame her, I would be too if I had to read about a bunch of dead people.

"Edward Anthony Masen. Born June 20, 1901. Died September 12, 1918 of Spanish Influenza. Mother Elizabeth Masen, father Edward Masen Sr. Two sisters, Mary Masen and Arissa Masen."

"I could've told you all of that." Arissa griped.

"Sorry, they don't keep a lot of records about people who died in the epidemic. There were too many people. Did you find anything?"

"Nothing of any use, come on. We better be getting back soon. I kind of pissed Mary off before we left."

"Of course you did." I said, rolling my eyes. Pigs would fly before those two would be able to get along.

ARISSA'S POV

As we were walking out of the library, my phone started ringing.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Arissa, hey, it's Mary listen up. I found an old abandoned house and Layla got us enrolled at Forks High. We're on our way now. I can send the directions to your GPS. We'll meet you there."

"Did you already pack everything?" This was weird. Wasn't she against going to Forks less than five hours ago?

"Yeah, it's in the SUV and I told the landlord we were leaving. Everything is all set, we just need to get to Forks."

"Alright, I'll see you there." I said, and hung up the phone.

"What was that all about?" Mia asked as we stepped into the car.

"We're going to Forks." I smiled, and started the car.

"Are you nervous?" She asked.

"Not at all." I smirked and pulled out of the parking lot. Forks, Washington. Here. We. Come.


	6. JD's and Tensions

MIA'S POV

Funnest. Ride. Ever.

First of all, Arissa was driving. That was a thrill in and among itself. Arissa was never allowed to drive because Mary wouldn't let her. I don't see what the problem was, it wasn't like we could get hurt or anything.

Second of all, I was in control of the radio. I plugged my Ipod into the speaker, and we just jammed the whole 34 hours. Granted, it got a little boring when we started listening to the same songs over again, but then we started playing stupid car games and listened to the ordinary radio until we got bored with that, and switched back and forth.

"Arriving at destination in .2 miles." The GPS said. It had been annoying the crap out of us the whole time, and whenever it went off, we would mimic it.

"We're here!" Arissa said as we pulled into our new driveway. I climbed right out of the front seat and opened the back. Anna and Layla weren't here yet, they probably stopped and went hunting somewhere.

"You all better be helping me unpack, I'm not getting your shit for you." I told her.

"Wow, way to do unto others as you would want others to do unto you Mimi." Arissa said as she ran to the back of the car to grab her bags. I don't remember when she started calling me Mimi, but I know it's her little pet name for me. It has been forever. I guess it makes sense since I'm the only one who calls her Riss.

"Oh give it a rest, Riss." I rolled my eyes.

"Wow, check out the space! This sure isn't Chicago anymore."  
"What is this? _The_ _Wizard of Oz_ or something? Wow, that is something. Hopefully there's better meat than the crap we got in Chicago." Carnivores.

"Yeah, gotta be great food out there. Lots of woods. Lots of carnivores." Two great minds think alike.

"Yeah, we should probably go hunting before school tomorrow." I added.

"Agreed. So, you wanna check out this house?"

"Do you have the key?" I asked her.

"Nope." She said, and ran off somewhere.

"Of course not." I swear, if she was still a human she would be in a juvenile hall so fast it would make her head spin. She could hot-wire cars and pick locks better than anyone I've ever known.

"Got it." She said, and opened the door.

MARY'S POV

We pulled into the driveway of our new house and saw Arissa's Scion tC sitting in the driveway. I was really hoping to make it here before them.

"How much damage do you think the house is in?" Layla asked, getting out of the SUV.

"How long do you think they've been here?"

"I don't know."

"Then it shouldn't be too bad." I hope.

"Hey Mary!" Mia and Arissa both called as they walked out of the house.

"Hey girls, how long have you been here?" I asked them, trying in a vain attempt to calculate how much damage control I would have to do.

"Fifteen minutes or so? You couldn't have been very far behind us. What'd you do? Sleep all night?" Ha. Ha. Ha.

"No, we weren't driving like maniacs down I-90." That wiped Arissa's smirk off her face.

"Whatever, it doesn't really matter. Have you guys hunted at all?" She retaliated. She didn't like being put down even though her ego asked for it every time.

"No, have you?" Layla answered for me. The last time we went was while Arissa was still missing.

"Not in a while, we should all go before school tomorrow."

"Well, that's a given." I added as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "We'll go as soon as we finish unpacking."

"Riss and I are already done." Mia said, smugly.

"Yeah, about that. How did you get in?" Layla asked. I knew exactly how.

"Arissa picked the lock." I said, glaring at my younger sister.

"What? We had no other choice! You didn't give me a key or anything and we didn't know how far back you were."

"You're vampires, you would've lived."

"Okay, now that we've got that over with," Mia said, trying to break the tension, "Let's go do some hunting! I bet they have some real food out here!"

"Yeah, common Mary, we can worry about all of this later. My throat is killing me." Layla moaned and gave me her puppy dog eyes.

"Okay, fine. But as soon as we get back we are unpacking and setting some ground rules." God only knew how much we needed them.

Mia and Arissa were the first to leave. As soon as I gave them the go they were racing to see who could find the biggest kill. Layla and I weren't as aggressive about it though. Yet.

→ Thank you guys so much for being patient! I know this chapter really sucks, but it'll get better. I just wanted to let you know about a poll on my profile. I'm going back to school on Monday after our holiday break, and I'm not gonna have that much time to update. I want to know which of my stories are the most popular so I can focus on those. In other words, if you want this story updated between now and February, VOTE!

Thank you all so much!


	7. What kind of world is this?

ARISSA'S POV

I couldn't believe that the food here was so good! There was a lot more options, first of all, and second, a _lot_ more carnivores. It had nothing on Russia, but given the circumstances, it was pretty good.

"I totally caught the bigger moose." Mia claimed. I didn't even get how she liked moose. They were dirty, and they were filthy. I think she just liked them because they were bigger than her.

"Yeah, okay. I caught a friggin' buck. How did you even find the moose?" We didn't go very far, mostly for the reason that we had school tomorrow morning. Nobody wanted to go to a high school with over 300 hormonal students without hunting first. It would be hard enough with minimum burning.

"I'm just that awesome." She smirked. I tackled her, naturally. She managed to get me on the ground before I could even get a good grip on her. Damn vampire training.

"Nice try sis, but you don't mess with the best."

"And you're the best?" I challenged.

"Well, you certainly aren't." I just rolled her eyes. I loved Mia to death, but she could be too egotistical for her own good sometimes.

When we got back to the house, we changed into cleaner clothes and grabbed our newly packed backpacks.

"Where did these come from?" Mia asked. Mary and Layla had been with us the whole time, or so we thought.

"Layla left about fifteen minutes early so she could pack everything up. That's why we were late, we had to stop to get supplies." Mary said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. _Well, it wasn't Mary, so stop being a smart ass. No one appreciates it._

We arrived at the school a little sooner than expected. We wanted to be fashionably late, but we weren't. We were earlier than most of the students.

"Masen sisters?" We kind of did look like sisters if you thought about it. Mary and I _were_ sisters, so that was an easy enough comparison, and we all shared the same shade of hair with somebody. Layla had darker hair than anyone else, and Mia had the lightest hair, but unless you really payed attention, you wouldn't notice, especially since for this exact reason Mary went a few shades darker and I went a few shades lighter. Mia went a little darker too. It was all about image. So much for challenging society.

"Oh, yes. I have your schedules here somewhere..." The secretary was a mess. She was old and shouldn't be working anymore. She had scattered papers everywhere and she was scrambling around trying to find the pile that belonged to us. She finally found them and handed them to Layla. She passed them around, and we all looked at them. "And here's a map. If you want I can call a student down to help show you around once the bell rings, if not, any of the teachers will tell you how to get to your next class. It's a small school, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just get your teachers to sign this pass when you get to class, and bring it back here at the end of the day. You'll only have to do this today so we know where you are. Any questions?"

Only ten-thousand, and yet none of them relevant.

"Nope." I answered. We would be fine figuring this out on our own. It shouldn't be too hard. Then again, this _is _high school. Anything can happen.

That was probably the longest day of my life. Now I remembered why I hated high school so much the last time I had to go back in 1945. It was boring as shit. The only good thing about it was that I've already gotten kicked out of class twice for talking because Mia kept poking me for amusement then blaming the "chatter" on me. Bitch.

"I can't believe you already have a record here, Arissa. You better be able to graduate next year."

"Yeah yeah, take a chill pill Mary. If it wasn't for Meems I wouldn't have gotten in trouble in the first place." I glared at her.

"Maybe you should switch classes, then."

"No! School is boring enough with her. Never mind without her." I rushed to say. I wouldn't be able to make it without her.

"Then you better graduate." Mary said shrugging as she got into her car. Our little genius Layla had gotten us an address to the Cullen's house at school today. Apparently they had been pretty popular when they went to school here. There were seven of them, and the one named Edward had been dating a girl named Bella Swan. I was trying not to get my hopes up on finding Eddie, but I couldn't help myself. I was pumped. So was Mary, but she would never admit it. She was too uptight.

"Where's the turnoff dammit!" Mia screamed as we drove past it _again_.

"Maybe if you slowed down, you wouldn't miss it," I shrugged from the backseat, "And you all say _I'm_ the bad driver." No one even acknowledged my comment even though I could see the virtual eye rolling.

"On your left!" Layla yelled to Mia as we took a sharp turn into another road. I almost squished the little midget.

"Whoa, calm your hormones, Meems." I told her as I kicked her seat.

"Keeping you loosers awake back there. You looked bored." She smiled into the mirror, and if she wasn't driving, I would've smacked here right now.

A giant house came into the picture on our left. It was open, and it was beautiful. Much prettier than our house anyway, which didn't take a lot. The thing that surprised me the most was how open it was. The walls were made of mostly glass, and there was a large lawn that wrapped around the house that two guys were destroying.

"Who do you think that is?" I asked Mia.

"I don't know. Cummon. Let's go meet them." She got out of the car after she parked it in their driveway. We couldn't see any of their faces, but I was secretly hoping one of them was Edward. If he was like me, Mary would have a heart attack and maybe she'd give up and leave.

We walked up to the front door, having a feeling that if the boys hadn't come over to us already, they were ignoring us. Mary rang the doorbell and a woman who looked like she was in her mid-thirties opened it. She was wearing an apron and one of those dresses that housewives wore on T.V.

"Can I help you ladies?" She asked us. What were we supposed to say? _Hi, I know you don't know us, but we know Dr. Cullen and we think he has our brother with him?_ Yeah, that's gonna work so well.

"Esme, I can take it from here. They're here for me." A familiar but distant voice said. Then, his face came into view. It was him. It was Edward.

"Hello Arissa, Mary. Would you like to come in? Amelia and Layla may come in as well." He asked us. How did he know we were here? How did he know it was us?

"Who's there, Edward?" A voice came from the living room, along with some heartbeats. _Bella?_ I thought, _but it couldn't be Bella. The heart is going way to fast to be a human's heart. That's impossible._

"It's not impossible, Ari, just highly unlikely. Please, come in and I will explain everything. I have a few questions for you four myself."

We went in, I went first and Mia took up the back. I trusted my brother, but there were other vampires here that I had never met before, and Mia's tension wasn't very comforting either.

"No one here will hurt you, Ari. They're my family. The woman at the door, that was Esme, our 'mother' for obvious reasons, and this" he said pointing to another woman on the floor holding a baby, "is my wife Bella and our daughter Renesmee. That's who's heart you heard. She's half human half vampire." What the hell?


	8. Hybrids, Mates, and Forgiveness

ARISSA'S POV

We walked up to the front door, having a feeling that if the boys hadn't come over to us already, they were ignoring us. Mary rang the doorbell and a woman who looked like she was in her mid-thirties opened it. She was wearing an apron and one of those dresses that housewives wore on T.V.

"Can I help you ladies?" She asked us. What were we supposed to say? _Hi, I know you don't know us, but we know Dr. Cullen and we think he has our brother with him?_ Yeah, that's gonna work so well.

"Esme, I can take it from here. They're here for me." A familiar but distant voice said. Then, his face came into view. It was him. It was Edward.

"Hello Arissa, Mary. Would you like to come in? Amelia and Layla may come in as well." He asked us. How did he know we were here? How did he know it was us?

"Who's there, Edward?" A voice came from the living room, along with some heartbeats. _Bella?_ I thought, _but it couldn't be Bella. The heart is going way to fast to be a human's heart. That's impossible._

"It's not impossible, Ari, just highly unlikely. Please, come in and I will explain everything. I have a few questions for you four myself."

We went in, I went first and Mia took up the back. I trusted my brother, but there were other vampires here that I had never met before, and Mia's tension wasn't very comforting either.

"No one here will hurt you, Ari. They're my family. The woman at the door, that was Esme, our 'mother' for obvious reasons, and this" he said pointing to another woman on the floor holding a baby, "is my wife Bella and our daughter Renesmee. That's who's heart you heard. She's half human half vampire." What the hell?

"A hybrid? How is that possible Edward?" Mary spoke up. We had all been around for a long time, but never expected anything like this to happen.

"Bella was human when Renesmee was conceived. She gave birth to her as a human, and then we changed her soon after." Edward was talking to us as if nothing was weird and everything was just perfect. First of all, he has a hybrid baby. Second of all, his sisters are standing in the room, and he isn't jumping for joy at seeing us alive. Man Edward, you've changed.

"I am actually curious about that. How _are _you two alive?"

"Long story short, you don't wanna know." Really long story short. Almost two chapters long.

"Actually, I'm very intrigued to find out what my dear sisters have been up to the past century. Please, elaborate." He sat down on the couch and gestured for us to follow. What was this friggin' story time? Mia was still standing by the door, clearly uncomfortable, Layla was on the floor with Bella and the baby, and Mary...actually just sat down next to freaking Edward. Great.

"Arissa, since you practically caused everything, would you like to explain?"

"Oh, it's my fault that you cut yourself with the god damn staple!" I was getting pissed now. I couldn't believe she was still pinning this all on me after all this time.

"It isn't my fault you had no control! I was your first exposure to blood for Christ sakes!" Mary stood up and she was inches away from me. She honestly looked like she was going to kill me.

Mia came over and put an arm around my shoulder, then looked to Edward and shook her head.

"This is a touchy subject for the two of them. I'd let it go." She said. She grabbed me and pulled me over towards the door, but the two boys from outside came in through it and saw the scene before us. Mary on the couch dry-sobbing, me wanting to kill her while Mia's holding me back, Edward looking hopeless, and Renesmee laughing and playing with her toys. Cute kid.

Mia looked up at the smaller man's face. She didn't even say anything, she just stared at him. Her grip tightened on me, not because I was restraining, but moreso because she was restraining herself.

"Amelia," He said to her, not moving. Layla had already run to the bigger man and now they were laughing and I think crying a little. I was still being held in Mia's death grip.

"Meems, stop it. You're hurting me. Let go." I told her. She broke out of her gaze, and looked at me. Then she gasped at how hard she was grabbing me.

"Oh my god, Riss, I'm so sorry!" She said, shaking her head.

"It's okay." I smiled encouragingly. "Who is he?" I asked her. How did he know who she was?

"Arissa, that's my older brother. Major Jasper Whitlock." I saw Jasper grin a little at the sound of his formal name. It dropped fast.

"Major, this is my sister Arissa." She motioned to me. At least she didn't forget her manners.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am." He held out his hand for me, and I looked at Mia. If it was her brother, he couldn't be that bad, could he? Then again, she tried had to restrain herself when she saw him.

She nodded to me, "He won't hurt you." She confirmed out loud. _Thanks, Mia. Now they all think I'm nuts._

"It's nice to meet you too, Jasper." I shook his hand. He had a strong grip, but it wasn't that bad. I'd felt worse.

He looked to Mia, and all I could see in his face was sorrow. I wouldn't blame him. I'd heard of what he did to her. He seemed nice enough to me, though. Mia wouldn't forgive him easily. That's the difference between us. She holds much longer grudges.

"Amelia, I'm so sorry." He said, finally, "I can understand if you won't forgive me, but I need you to know that I _am_ truly sorry." She glared at him. I held her hand as if to say, "Calm down, it's okay." It was the only way I knew how to calm her down.

"If you were sorry you wouldn't have left." She said, never taking her eyes off of him, she was pissed, "You would have woken me up. You don't understand Jasper, I thought you were dead. I thought you were dead, and I never even got the chance to say goodbye to you. Do you know how much that killed me?" Her voice broke on the end, and she tried to turn to leave, but he followed her. She was going to end up killing him.

"Amelia, I'm so sorry. There is absolutely no excuse for what I did, but you have to know that I _do_ still love you very much, and that will never, ever change. You are mostly all I have thought about in the past century, and I have regretted my decision every minute of my life after I made it. I was wrong, and if there is any possible way to forgive me, please, seek it out."

"I can't Jasper. Not now. So please, just leave me alone." She stormed out the door, got into the car and drove off. I thought about going after her, but I decided against it. When she was like this, it was better to just let her be. She was good at controlling herself in a way that I wasn't. She wouldn't hurt anyone. I hoped.

"Is she going to be okay?" He turned to me. Even when she acted like that to him he still cared about her? That was sibling love. I smiled.

"She'll be fine. She's good with her emotions. She'll be fine later, but I wouldn't recommend bringing that up again. If there's any chance she'll forgive you, it's on her own time. You can't ask her for her forgiveness, or she won't give it to you. She's funny like that."

He laughed a little at that, "You two close?" He asked me. _You have no idea._

"Yeah, we're the closest out of the four of us."

"That's good. She has someone she can talk to." He nodded. I wouldn't say we talked much, we just took care of each other. She held me back and I held her back. She kept me in control and I kept her in control. We were like twins, in a way.

"Yeah, I guess. She really does love you, though. She never stops bragging about how great of a brother you were to her. I think she'll forgive you in time. She really looks up to you." I sized him up and laughed, "literally. You're really tall." We laughed some more.

"I can't believe you're flirting with Mia's older brother, Arissa. That's low, even for you." Layla said from her spot on the floor with Emmett and Renesmee. She was smirking.

"What? I-no! I would never!" I took a step away from Jasper, who was laughing a little at my discomfort, "Layla!" I accused. Everyone was laughing by now, and I was sure that I would be bright red if I were a human. I buried my head in my lap, and Jasper came and wrapped his arms around me.

"That's okay, there's nothing wrong with flirting if it's with the most beautiful girl in the world." He smiled and then kissed me. I looked at him, shocked. I was his sister's sister. Best friend. This was wrong, and yet, it felt...good. I had never felt this way before, it was weird. That's when we all heard a laugh from the doorway.

"Wow, Arissa. Can't go a week without your fix? I do admit, Jazz is H.D" I cracked up at this. That was our little joke. H.D stands for hunky delicious. We made it up before I left for Europe. I was still dating this kid named Darryl, and we needed something to call him that he wouldn't know what he meant. Thus, H.D.

"H.D?" He asked me.

"It's a secret." I smiled and kissed him again, pulling him on the floor. Just then, Mia came up and pulled me out from under him.

"If you want my brother, you're going to have to fight me for it." She smiled, and ran outside. Oh, it's on, Mimi. It's so on. I ran outside, and tackled her to the ground.

*** IMPORTANT ***

**I realized a few mistakes that I made in the order of this story. The first one is that I already mentioned that the Volturi were coming to kill Renesmee. If this were true than Alice would already know about it. Well, she does. She doesn't have a mate in this particular story, so let's just say that Rosalie and Alice went to go looking for the hybrids. Emmett and Rosalie are still together, he just didn't go. I know that's highly unlikely, but I need to do that in order for my story to work. If there are any other questions, please PM me. I know I screwed this up badly, but I'll find some idea that will make it all work. Thanks for your cooperation and everlasting patience!**

**Lexi**

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight :(


	9. Talents

LAYLA'S POV

"If you want my brother, you're going to have to fight me for it." Mia said from the door after having her hissy fit. Arissa's eyes just lit up, and she ran outside mere seconds after Mia made a run for it. Jasper followed them out, probably to mediate or something. He didn't know that they did this all the time, plus he seemed pretty protective of Riss already. Adding to the fact that Mia was also his sister, it made sense he would go after them.

"Great, another Emmett and Jasper duo." Someone mumbled. I think it was Bella, but I couldn't be sure. Apparently she wasn't a fan of them. She also picked the baby up and

"She'll come around." Edward said, smiling.

"Seriously, how do you do that?" I asked him. He wouldn't pick on me, I hope.

"No, I save that sort of behavior strictly for Ari. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but it's pretty fun to get her mad."

"Oh, I've definitely noticed." I smiled devilishly remembering the many times I had paired up with Mary to get back at Arissa for a prank she pulled. Granted, she would get mad and have Mia avenge her, but it was worth it all the same.

"I'm a mind reader. It's my talent, per se." He explained.

"Talent?" I asked him. I've never heard of this. I guess that there was a lot I didn't know. I was the youngest, but I didn't think I was this far out of the loop. I looked at Mary. She shook her head. She didn't know anything either.

"Depending on the strengths of a given person as a human, some of the stronger traits stay with you through your vampire transformation in the form of a talent or superpower, I guess."

"That makes sense." Mary said. She was sitting next to Bella on the couch. Why would she trust Mary and not me?

"Would Arissa be considered talented, then?" I asked Mary. Clearly she understood this more than I did.

"Possibly." She nodded. She was too intrigued with the baby to give anything more than one word answers at this point, apparently. Who'd of thought she'd be the motherly type?

"What can Ari do?" Edward asked, interested now. I guess he was the overprotective brother type. Kind of like Emmett who was hovering over me. He hadn't let me go since I got here. He saw me, I saw him, and it was like magnets. We hugged, we just skipped over the catching up part. I didn't really want to do that in front of everyone anyways. My life was my life. If you don't like it, you can go to hell.

"I'm not sure if it would count as a talent, but she doesn't really have a good grip on her emotions or anything. Nothing works to calm her down once she's riled up. Remember those tantrums she used to throw as a child? Picture that times ten, and you've got one of them now. I always assumed that it was a part of vampire life, but I learned over time that it wasn't normal and just passed it off as the vampire equivalent of Bipolar disorder." Mary shrugged. Care a little bit less about your sister, Mare. I bet she really appreciates it.

"I guess it's a good thing she mated with Jazz then, huh Edward?" Emmett said from next to me.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked him, honestly curious. Who said they were mated?

"Jasper's an empath. He can control the emotions around him as well as feel the emotions himself. It's a hard talent to have, but a useful one." Edward explained.

"You wanna get out of here?" Emmett asked me. I nodded yes, feeling kind of bad for just leaving in the middle of a conversation.

"Don't worry about it, Mary and I have some catching up to do anyway." Edward sat down next to his sister and his wife. He started playing with the baby. It was kind of cute.

"Come on, I know the perfect place we can go." Emmett smiled and dragged me along.

We walked out through the back and saw Mia and Riss tackling each other. It looked like Mia was winning, but you never knew with these two. After watching for a few minutes, Emmett finally spoke up.

"I've got twenty on your sister, man." he said. True, she was winning at the moment, but she had a lot of tactic training in the newborn armies. Soon enough, Riss would see her pattern and reverse it, forcing her into an awkward position for fighting. Riss had this.

"You're on." I spoke up. Emmett and Jasper looked at me like I just confessed to murder.

"Seriously? I need to teach you how to gamble smart, little sis. You just wasted twenty bucks." Emmett, Emmett, Emmett. We've been away for far too long. I _never_ make a stupid bet. Never.

"Wait for it." Was all I said. He sat on the ground, and we waited.

"Fine, I'm out!" Mia said at last, tapping out after Riss had her in a dead lock for about five minutes. She couldn't get out, it was a forced forfeit.

I looked at Emmett and Jasper's faces and they were astonished. None of them thought that Riss would be able to pull through. Never judge a book by it's cover, I guess.

"Oh yeah! That's what I'm talking about!" Riss gloated. Mia was just on the ground biting her lip and shaking her head. It was her usual response to loosing. Next she was going to ask for a rematch that Riss would gladly accept and so on in a never ending circle.

"So, that's forty dollars, right?" I asked the boys sitting next to me. They both groaned and pulled out their wallets.

"Guess we're gonna be in-laws, huh Mia?" I heard Riss say. She was really a piece of work sometimes.

"Come on, let's get out of here while we still can." I said to Emmett, pulling him.

We crossed a river and went deep into the woods until we found a little path that looked like it had been made by a child. It was well done, actually.

"Where are we going?" I asked Emmett, who was still pulling me along.

"Shh, you'll see. Just be patient." He lectured me. I don't need a lesson on patience, brother.

He opened a few bushes and sure enough, it was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen in my life. It was a little clearing with a pond and a rock that jetted out into a waterfall. You could probably get back there if you tried.

"Wow, Em. That's something." I said, amazed.

"Isn't it? My wife and I come here all the time to get away. As much as we love letting everyone know we like to have fun, it's nice to get away sometimes too." He smiled. Ew. I did not need that picture in my head.

"Who was your wife?" I asked him.

"She isn't here. She ran off with my sister Alice. It's really complicated, but Alice is a psychic. She saw a vision of the Volturi coming to kill our family because of Ness. Irina, another vampire saw her and thought she was an immortal child. The punishment for that is death, but we've been wrongly accused and so they took off looking for witnesses. We have until December to find them. You're the first family that's shown up, even though it was under different circumstances." He explained. Wow, that's awful.

"Honestly, it isn't even really under different circumstances." I said. He looked at me like I was nuts, "Arissa, she came home after disappearing for a good decade and told us that she heard the Volturi over talking the trial. She recognized Dr. Cullen's name, came home, and we drove here."

"How would she know what the Volturi is planning? Is she with them?" He asked, concerned now.

"No, she was captured. She isn't the best behaved Vampire around." I rolled my eyes and laughed a little at all the trouble she's caused us in the past years. It could be a movie someday. A thriller.

"That's good, we don't want no spies around here." Emmett said, and pushed me into the pond. I was going to kill him.


	10. Doesn't Change Anything

ARISSA'S POV

"Fine, I'm out!" Mimi said, finally tapping out. I've had her in a headlock for the past fifteen minutes. I'm surprised it took her that long to give up. Usually she just got bored and didn't bother trying to find a way out. It was probably because her brother was watching.

"Oh yeah! That's what I'm talking about!" I yelled in excitement. I didn't usually gloat like this, but it was pretty exciting. Especially since none of the boys thought I was going to be able to pull through and win. Yeah, well, they were wrong. Horribly wrong. "Guess we're gonna be in-laws, huh Mia?" I asked her, pulling her off of the ground.

"Yeah. In-laws." She grumbled, then turned to me and asked, "Rematch?"

"Maybe some other time. I've got some catching up to do with my big bro." I smiled. She looked at me like I was going to kill her in her sleep.

"Please don't leave me alone with him," She whispered to me. Was it really that bad?

"You won't be alone, Emmett and Lay are right over...gone. Never mind. Yeah, you'll be alone. Sorry, I don't hate my brother. Yet."

"What do you mean, yet?" She asked me. I held a little grudge ever since I found out what really happened to my mom and dad, but it wasn't anything like what Mimi and Jazz had going down. _That _was some serious sibling rivalry.

"I haven't caught up with him yet. If he's related to Mary, I can't like him for too long, can I?" I rambled. Mimi rolled her eyes.

"_You're_ related to Mary, Riss." She pointed out.

"Yeah, and I hate myself." I said, walking inside before anyone could ask any questions.

MIA'S POV

I had no response to that. I followed Riss inside, but she shut the door in my face and pointed to Jasper, who was sitting on the back patio in a chair, twiddling his thumbs. I guess some things just don't change. The sad thing is, is that two hundred years ago, I wouldn't have thought twice about talking to him and catching up. It was a normal part of our day. We were that close.

"I can not believe she just did that." I growled to myself, letting the anger build inside of me.

"I can. Brother and sister are fighting, the brother is her boyfriend, the sister is her best-friend, and she just wants everyone to get along. It's a common problem with teenagers." Jasper rambled. Well isn't he just the smartest kid on the block.

"Okay, Sherlock, whatever." I grumbled. She may hate the fact that I can't stand Jasper, but I was here first. She can't just ditch me because my brother is better looking, or whatever her excuse is going to be.

"What did I do to make you hate me so much?" He mused, I raised my eyebrows at him in true astonishment. Did he really not know?

"No, I understand the anger, but not the hate. I have always understood that you probably never would've forgiven me, but I never thought it would amount to this. This isn't anger, or denial, this is true hate. I made a mistake, yes, but you don't even have the slightest bit of positive emotion towards me, and I don't understand." He told me. Was it really that bad? Did I really hate him that much? Yes, I was pissed at him for leaving me like that, but was it worth all of this?

"You left me," He opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off, "I asked you for one thing before you left, Jasper, and that was to let me say goodbye. Let me have closure. I was so young, and you just left. You never came back. Even as a vampire, you never came back. You left me there to die. You knew, too. That's the worst of it. You knew about everything, and you never thought to tell me of your existence. That maybe, you were actually still alive. That maybe, there was hope for me."

"How did you know that I was watching you?" He asked me. I didn't even put all of the pieces together until now.

"December 12, 1902. Battle of Sharron's Peak. I lead my army in east, through the mountains. And I saw you. I didn't recognize you at first, but then I did, and I was scared. I thought that I was going crazy, that maybe all the fighting was catching up with me and it was a sign to end it. I almost killed myself in that battle because of you. I kept seeing you around, I started to get self-conscious. It was you, but it wasn't. There was no color, no life to you. It was the Jasper looks that I remembered, just not the smile. You were cold, you were hollow. You weren't warm and solid like I remembered. I saw you as a ghost. Seeing you today, it made me realize that it wasn't a ghost, it was really you. You just weren't a ghost, you were a vampire." I said, sitting on the ground next to him.

"I'm sorry." He said. I felt like all he was doing was apologizing, but that wasn't going to help anything. I still wasn't going to forgive him. Years of pain, months of sleepless nights. Night terrors. I stopped eating. Even after I was changed, I couldn't think of him because it brought back all those memories. I almost forgot about him all together, but that scared me even more so I allowed the memories to come back one-by-one. Slowly. Carefully.

"It doesn't change anything, sorry." I said, and ran into the woods. Arissa couldn't stop me there.


	11. Tyler

KARI POV

_"I'm sorry." He said. I felt like all he was doing was apologizing, but that wasn't going to help anything. I still wasn't going to forgive him. Years of pain, months of sleepless nights. Night terrors. I stopped eating. Even after I was changed, I couldn't think of him because it brought back all those memories. I almost forgot about him all together, but that scared me even more so I allowed the memories to come back one-by-one. Slowly. Carefully._

_"It doesn't change anything, sorry." I said, and ran into the woods. Arissa couldn't stop me there._

I didn't stop until I was far enough into the woods that I saw a little brook break off from the river I had been following. I knew the other side of it belonged to the wolves, so I tried not to cross it. I just needed to get away. Far away.

"Amelia?" I heard a voice call from behind me. It sounded so familiar, and yet, I couldn't place it at all. What also startled me was that the mystery person called me Amelia. I haven't been called Amelia since I left the newborn army. Eventually, I got up the courage to turn around, and I was so happy that I did.

"Tyler!" I said, running to him. I hadn't seen him in over 200 years. Talk about a sight for sore eyes!

"Well, I don't know if I should be disappointed that you didn't realize who I was sooner, or happy that you know who I am now without me having to tell you." He said, grinning that stupid grin he had. The one that I missed so much.

"I think you should be happy that we're both alive and together again," I said, still in his arms.

"I thought you were dead," He admitted finally. I knew this was coming. "What happened? Everyone was saying that Frederick finally got rid of you."

"Is that what they told you? Well, I always knew them to be liars if it helped them retain their superiority," I said. He pulled away and gave me a confused look.

"So if he didn't kill you, what happened?" Tyler asked. Man, this was going to kill him.

"I had to get away. All the killing, it just became too much, so, I ran away," I told him. He took a deep breath before saying anything.

"I thought we had something," was all he said.

"_We_ did. Martha and I did not. I wasn't going to be their slave anymore. I couldn't keep killing people like that, Tyler."

"So why didn't you tell me? We could've run away together! At least then I wouldn't have almost been killed thinking you were dead!" He yelled at me.

"Well, clearly, you got away," I spat back at him. I wasn't going to argue about this.

"Yeah, only because I didn't believe that you were actually dead," He finally admitted. That shocked me.

"What?" I asked him, turning to face him again.

"Nothing added up. I had seen you fight for so long, and I knew that you wouldn't die to Fredrick. I also knew that you were still important to Martha when you "died." They wouldn't have killed you. Yes, you were dropping a little, but not enough to dispose of," He sighed, "So I ran away too. I ran to go look for you. Clearly, I'm not as good of a tracker as I thought…" He looked down at the ground.

"It's been almost a hundred years…" I started. He looked up at me.

"And?" He asked.

"Do you still love me?" I had to ask him. If he didn't, I would understand, but I needed him right now. My best friend was going off with my brother who I have spent almost two hundred years hating. I needed someone else who I could actually trust.

"Yes," he said, "I really hated you for a while, running away like that, but I never stopped loving you. That's why I ran away. I kept hoping that one day I would find you again. I wanted to do it all over and have a normal relationship that didn't involve beating each other up on a daily basis."

That was all I needed. I hugged him again, and I took his head in my hands, pressing my lips to his mouth. He returned the favor, kissing me as a reply. I'm not sure how long we stayed like that, but it was a while.

"I'm so sorry," I said, wrapping my arms around his neck. He deserved that much.

"It's okay, because none of that matters now. You and I can run away together. We can be free and love each other while traveling the world."

"Oh, Tyler…" I said, pulling away from him and looking to the ground. This conversation was going to get really awkward really fast.

"What is it?" he said, pulling me back into him. It was obvious that he never wanted to let me go again. Honestly, I didn't blame him. The way he was holding me, it was perfect. For once in my life, I felt safe. Not needing any protection because I had it all right there with me.

"I have a family, Ty. I'm not alone," I said reluctantly. How much I wanted to just run away with him, especially knowing what was to come. Honestly, how much more of Arissa was I going to see now that she was with Jasper? Anna and I were never close, and Layla seemed too close to Emmett to want to do anything with me anymore. For the first time in a long time, I was alone, but I had the opportunity to leave with the man that I love. It was a tough sacrifice, but eventually, things would even out. Whatever was going on with the Volturi, the Cullen's needed me _here_. This is where I belong.

"Of course, I should have known," He said, letting go of me.

"Should have known what?" I asked him.

"Your eyes. They're golden. You're one of them now," He said, blankly. No emotion. Like a soldier.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" One of _them._ Who's _them_?

"They told us about your kind starting about twenty years ago when you all became an actual threat to us. They said that the golden eyes would betray us and kill us. They told us-"

"Tyler, none of that is true!" I cut him off, I heard rumors about what the new commanders were telling their armies. The ones that still existed at least. They were just that though. Rumors. "The only reason we have golden eyes is because we don't feed off of humans. We drink animal blood instead," I explained to him

"Why switch to animal blood? Human blood is so…"

"Gross," I finished for him. This wasn't going to go anywhere.

"I'm sorry, but I'm older than you are and have been drinking human blood my whole life! How am I supposed to just, convert?" He complained.

"First of all, I'm actually older than _you _are, but you could stay here. With me," I offered.

"But I would still have to convert," he shook his head. 

"Not necessarily, but it would help. We actually care about camouflage up north," I laughed a little, remembering how careless the southerners were. Tyler didn't find my joke as amusing.

"I don't know…" he trailed off. I knew this was a tough decision for him, so I tried bargaining a little. It always worked on him before.

"Okay, here's the deal. Stay for a few days, and try it out. If you still don't like it you can leave, but just know that I'm staying, and I'm going to try _very_ hard to change your mind." I moved even closer to him giving him my sexiest smile, and he pressed up against me. Our lips locked, and we were oblivious to the world. He had me pressed up against the nearest tree and we probably would've ended up naked if Edward and Jasper hadn't have come spying on us.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Jasper yelled, ripping Tyler off of me.

"Jasper! It's fine, he wasn't going to hurt me!" I screamed at him. I knew Jasper, but I knew Tyler just as well, if not better. If they fought over me, it would be to the death. Edward must've realized this too because he stepped in and grabbed the first vampire he saw. Of course, it had to be Tyler. Just my luck.

"Let go of me!" He snarled. I grabbed a hold of Jasper. He was strong, but I when it came to Tyler, I was stronger.

"Guys, please just stop!" I groaned, letting go of Jasper and running in between the two fighters and sending off as much hate and anger to my brother as possible. Edward was still holding Tyler as if he were going to try to attack me, and Jasper never took his eyes off of him.

_Let him go, Edward. _I warned him. He seemed to trust me, so he released Tyler from his grasp. Tyler ran over to me and got into a defensive position. It was very similar to the one Jasper was making right in front of him.

"Amelia, who are they?" Tyler asked me, not taking his eyes off of Jasper.

"The better question would be who are you, and what are you doing to my sister?" Jasper growled back at him. I just rolled my eyes.

"Would both of you cut the shit? This is ridiculous! Tyler, this is my brother Jasper and his "brother" Edward. Jasper and Edward, this is my old partner, Tyler," I explained, hoping to relieve some of the tension.

"Partner? I wouldn't say it like _that..._" Tyler said, clearly amused by my word choice. I growled at him giving him a warning to shut up before I let Jasper have at him.

"Okay, so he was my boyfriend," I admitted whilst rolling my eyes. This was insane.

"You had a boyfriend?" Jasper asked. Luckily, he wasn't as aggressive as he was earlier, but you could definitely see the uncertainty with him. For example, he kept looking at Tyler every five seconds. I growled at him too and he backed off again.

"So, seriously, where do you two stand, and how do you know each other?" Jasper asked, trying to decipher our little relationship.

"Okay, so I'll tell you, but you can't interrupt," I waited for him to nod before I continued. "You know how I was in the army, right? Well, that was where I met Tyler. We were partners, and we fought together. Eventually, we grew on each other, and fell in love. When I was "killed", he was devastated."

"I was so upset that I left the army. Everything there reminded me of Amelia. I wanted to start a new life away from all of the violence. I was attempting to go to every state in the US, and then I was going to try every country in the world, hopefully finding her. I wanted to be with her again, and have a normal relationship while traveling the world. While searching in northern Washington, I came across a scent that I vaguely remembered. I followed it, and it led to Amelia," Tyler finished. I didn't know all of that.

We smiled at each other and started kissing again. Jasper interrupted us with a cough. _Nice._ I thought, and Edward chuckled a little. In return, I growled at him. That covered all of the boys.

"Well, I suppose if you would like to stay with us, it shouldn't be too much of a problem. It would probably be better on our part if you stayed with Amelia and her family at their home though. They live on the other side of town, but are going to re-locate closer to us so that it is easier," Edward offered. He must've figured out about our deal while going through one of our minds. Tyler wasn't one to control his thoughts well.

"Bingo," Edward smiled at me.

"That sounds appropriate," Tyler nodded his head. I was glad he decided to give this life a try. It would be a nice challenge for him, and he liked challenges.

"Of course, they'll have to ask Carlisle." Jasper added. Of course, anything to try and make it so Tyler can't live with me. Couldn't he give me a break? I could take Arissa from him very easily if he was going to play this game with me. I was not going to loose Tyler because of him.

"Yes, that is true," Edward said. _I thought you were on my side…_ I mind-growled at him. He shrugged. _Figures._

"Well, then let's go ask him, and hurry up. I want some alone time with my _mate._ Not boyfriend, _mate._" I tried to emphasize the word so that Jasper would back off. Even he knew that he couldn't control love. Plus, he owed me for stealing my best friend.

It may or may not have worked. Jasper was crowding me the same way that Tyler was, but in an over-protective brother way, not a possessive boyfriend way like Tyler was holding me. Edward tailed behind, trying to give us some space. He was probably happy that Jasper would be too busy watching over me than flirting with Arissa, who I kept forgetting was Edward's sister. I wonder if it's the same thing for them…


	12. Love at First Sight

LAYLA'S POV

_"Who was your wife?" I asked him._

_"She isn't here. She ran off with my sister Alice. It's really complicated, but Alice is a psychic. She saw a vision of the Volturi coming to kill our family because of Ness. Irina, another vampire saw her and thought she was an immortal child. The punishment for that is death, but we've been wrongly accused and so they took off looking for witnesses. We have until December to find them. You're the first family that's shown up, even though it was under different circumstances." He explained. Wow, that's awful._

_"Honestly, it isn't even really under different circumstances," I said. He looked at me like I was nuts, "Arissa, she came home after disappearing for a good decade and told us that she heard the Volturi over talking the trial. She recognized Dr. Cullen's name, came home, and we drove here."_

_"How would she know what the Volturi is planning? Is she with them?" He asked, concerned now._

_"No, she was captured. She isn't the best behaved Vampire around." I rolled my eyes and laughed a little at all the trouble she's caused us in the past years. It could be a movie someday. A thriller._

_"That's good, we don't want no spies around here." Emmett said, and pushed me into the pond. I was going to kill him._

"You're a dead man, Emmett McCarty!" I yelled to him as I found my way out of the pond.

"It's actually Emmett Cullen now, Layla," he corrected me. He came over and pulled me up onto the rock we were sitting at before. He pulled a towel out from a little hole in the ground and handed it to me.

"You never know," he explained.

"What was she like?" I asked him.

"Who, Rose? Well, she's something I'll tell you…" he trailed off.

"Blonde?" I guessed, laughing. Emmett chuckled a little, confirming my guess. I knew my brother too well.

"And then some. She's very motherly, she'll probably treat you more like her daughter than her sister-in-law, but she can be a handful sometimes. She has an attitude worse than a pit viper, and a bite worse than her bark. If she's yelling at you, you're at the same pace as everyone else."

"Seems like your type. You need someone to keep you in line," I laughed. I wasn't sure how I would take to any of those qualities, but I guess we would cross that bridge when we got there. Right now, it was just Emmett and I.

"Damn, can't they just leave us alone?" Emmett growled and stood up, pushing me behind him.

"What's wrong?" I asked him. I didn't like being treated like a child, especially one who couldn't protect herself.

"Werewolves. They don't know that you and your sisters are here, they must've caught your scent and got curious. We're right on the border, that's the only bad thing about this place."

"Are we in danger?" I asked Emmett. I didn't want to start a fight.

"We shouldn't be. When we first moved here, we made a treaty with them. Hopefully they'll understand that the treaty's still in tact."

"That's good," I said, not quite sure of anything.

I squinted to try and make out the dark figures that were in the woods and I instantly wished I didn't. The wolves were huge, bigger than a bear, and probably stronger than Emmett. I had heard of werewolves before, they weren't to be taken to kindly. They lacked anger management skills and if you pissed them off, you were screwed. They were also created to kill only one thing: vampires.

Out of nowhere, a man, probably in his twenties came out of the woods. He was tall, and was wearing only shorts. Emmett relaxed a little, but didn't let me move in front of him.

"You know the treaty, Cullen. You cannot bite a human," the man explained.

"We didn't bite her, Sam. Layla and her three sisters are merely visitors. You know of the current situation," Emmett told him. The man, Sam, grimaced a little. I remembered Bella playing with Renesmee in the living room, and everything Emmett and Arissa told me about the Volturi. To have to witness all of that, it couldn't have been pleasant.

"Of course, I am sorry for any inconveniences. Also, Jacob and Seth are on their way over, but Leah is at home helping Sue with something."

"I'm not sure. We were just heading back anyways, so we can send him back if he is."

"Thank you," Sam said, and walked back into the woods.

"Well, that was awkward," I said, once we started walking back to the house. Mary was probably going to kill me for ruining my clothes, but I didn't really care after all of that.

"Tell me about it. Those mutts are always trying to stick their noses into our business. They know that we're trying to find other vampires to help us out, and yet they threaten us anyways," Emmett complained. He complained the entire way back to the house. When we got there, Mia was talking to some other boy in the backyard.

"Give up on stalking Ari?" I yelled to her. She looked at me and smiled a little.

"Yeah, I have my own man to spend time with now. Layla, this is Tyler. Tyler, this is my sister Layla. Tyler and I fought together in the south before I turned you," Mia explained. Tyler had his arm wrapped around her waist. They were actually adorable together. Tyler was the perfect height for Mia, not too tall, but not too short. He was muscular, but not as big as Emmett, although they would be a fair fight.

"It's nice to meet you," I said, shaking Tyler's hand. Not many people did that nowadays, but I tried to whenever possible.

"Nice to meet you too, Layla," he responded. Nice boy.

I turned to walk into the house, but Mia stopped me before I could open the door.

"I wouldn't go in there if I were you," she warned.

"Why not?" I asked. It wasn't like it was someone's bedroom.

"Shapeshifters. They smell worse than I did after I got attacked by that skunk back in 1968," she laughed, "It's a wet dog kind of odor, the worst kind."

"I think I can handle it," I smiled. Emmett walked in without a problem, and others were in there, so it couldn't be that bad. Mia was known to over exaggerate. Except she wasn't.

I walked in, and as soon as I took a whiff, I realized that this was quite possibly one of the worst stenches I had ever smelt in my life. It smelled a little like it did at the pond, but much, much stronger.

"Come on, we don't smell that bad," a boy said, walking into the kitchen where I came in. I must've been making a face or something.

"Excuse me?" I asked him. Like Sam, he was only wearing a pair of shorts. I took another breath, and the scent was definitely coming from him, but it wasn't bad. The scent coming from him, I kind of liked it.

"Sorry, I'm Seth. Seth Clearwater," he introduced himself and held out his hand. Sam mentioned something about a Seth, but I assumed they were werewolves, not shape shifters, if there was even a difference.

"Layla. Layla McCarty," I said, and shook his hand. It was really warm compared to the average human's, so we could rule out that he was actually normal.

I checked him out a little, to my dismay. He had slightly toned abs, not as much as some other guys I've met, but he definitely had some. His hair was cropped short. He was a little taller than me, but not by much, he was the perfect height. His lips were perfectly rounded, and I could just picture myself kissing them.

"See something you like?" He asked, smiling. I broke out of my daydreaming and looked back at his gorgeous face. Is this what love was like? People always say that you know, but I never believed them. Was it really true that love at first sight existed?

"Yes. You're very attractive," I joked.

"Well, maybe you should get to know the true me a little more," he offered, "How about a movie?"

"Are you asking me out? I've hardly known you for five minutes!" Why was a protesting? Of course I wanted to go see a movie with him. Then again, I had a feeling I wouldn't be watching the movie…

"If you don't want to go, that's fine…" he trailed off, looking disappointed. Before he could walk away, I grabbed his shoulder and planted my lips right on his.

When we broke apart, I said, "I would love to go to the movies with you."

"Friday night it is then," Seth smiled. He did that a lot. He had a very handsome smile. I couldn't picture him frowning.

"Yeah," I said, "Friday." Wow.


	13. Family ReUnited

*Mary's POV*

"Don't worry about it, Mary and I have some catching up to do anyway." Edward sat down beside me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. I pushed it off immediately and he scowled at me. I just shook my head. Yes, he was still a weirdo.

"Come on, I know the perfect place we can go." Emmett smiled, dragging Layla outside where we could here taunting and yelling coming from Arissa and Mia who were apparently still fighting.

I turned my attention back to Renesmee, who was pulling on my hair again. It was not too long, it only went down to my shoulders, but when I had it up, you could rarely tell what the real length was. It was a darker shade than Edward's closer to brown than anything, but you could see the shades of copper that I got from my mother. I was the half way point between Edward, who looked almost exactly like my mother, and Arissa, who was identical to my father. I was evenly divided.

I could see a lot of Edward in Renesmee, and even a little of my mother. Her eyes were a dark shade of brown, and they were beautiful. She must have gotten those from Bella, because everyone in our family had green eyes. Bright, emerald green eyes.

"Yes, Bella did have beautiful brown eyes. Renesmee resembles them almost perfectly," Edward said, smiling while kissing Bella. Under any other circumstance, I would have scoffed in disgust, but I thought that would be extremely inappropriate considering I was only a guest and this was their home.

"Where have you and your…" Bella trailed off, not knowing what to call my sisters and me.

"Sisters," I told her, smiling.

"Thanks, where have you and your sisters been living?" She asked. I smiled a little before answering.

"Chicago," I said, solemnly. Edward laughed a little as I knew he would. Bella looked more confused than anything.

"Okay, what am I missing?" She asked, giggling awkwardly.

"Out of all of us, Arissa, Mary, and myself, Mary was the one who hated Chicago the most and swore that the minute she was married she was moving out of the city and settling in a more rural area," Edward explained. I just shook my head.

"Well, that was the plan until your sister decided to run away and leave me with the house for the next couple decades," I said, rolling my eyes.

"What _did _happen with that?" Edward asked me. Renesmee was on the floor now, doing some kind of puzzle. She was very smart for a child who was only a little over a month old.

"Long story short, I told Arissa the truth, she threw one of her temper tantrums and left. She came back about three years later as a vampire, turned me, and we were stuck together. Fifty years or so later, Layla and Amelia show up, and we just hang out in Chicago for a little bit," I explained.

"You lived in Chicago for sixty years? How did you keep your cover?" Edward asked. That, my brother, is an excellent question.

"Well, we only took classes on the computer, and didn't go out into town unless it was necessary. Even then, we at least went to Portland to get what we needed. On top of that, we traveled a lot individually. Arissa, especially, went to Russia a lot. The family that turned her lived there," I told him.

"Interesting," He said, and then Renesmee climbed up on him and touched his cheek, showing him something. He said he was a mind reader, did she not understand that?

"It's more comfortable to her, Mary. Surely you understand that?" He said, not taking his eyes off of his daughter. Then, he turned to a worried looking Bella.

"She's just tired," he explained, "it's naptime." He smiled and started picking up the toys, which were packed and ready to go in less than five minutes. "Well, it was nice seeing you Mary, please, if you leave, say goodbye, okay?" I smiled.

"Of course," I told him even though I was not planning on leaving any time soon.

Edward and Bella left, leaving me alone in an unfamiliar house. I looked around the modern room, and onto the fireplace where pictures of the family members were lined up. Some were older, but some were more recent. The girls and I had similar pictures of us, as of old family members. I still had a family picture of Edward, Arissa, Mother, Father, and I before the influenza outbreak. Before life got complicated.

"Hello, Mary," A voice called from the staircase. I looked up, and smiled.

"Dr. Cullen," I returned, nodding my head. He shook his.

"No, Carlisle. I'm not your doctor anymore, there's no need for formality," he explained.

"And yet, we are talking like we are back in 1901," I laughed. Speech _had _changed with all of the slang people used these days.

"Yes, I assume so," He said, sitting next to me. I decided it was time to ask him what was going on with the Volturi.

"So, I have heard that your family is in a bit of trouble with the Volturi?" I asked him.

"Ahh, yes, we are," He nodded, "Renesmee has seemed to cause some trouble. Do you know Irina from the Denali Coven?" he asked me.

"No," I told him, "We don't know many covens. We lived in Chicago most of the time."

"Well, Irina and her sisters are very loyal to the laws of the Volturi. Irina caught a glimpse of Renesmee while they were out hunting, and of course, she looked much younger than she does now. At first glance, she wouldn't look like a hybrid, especially to one who doesn't know they exist,"

"They would look like an immortal child," I finished for him, understanding. He nodded in confirmation. The Volturi don't take lightly to breaking the rules, especially rules that involve immortal children. It was unheard of that one would even create an immortal child.

"We've been wrongly accused of a crime we didn't commit. They're bringing the whole guard and the wives with them," Carlisle explained further.

"The wives never leave the tower," I said, confused. They _never_ left the tower.

"I know. That's one thing that has us very concerned. They want witnesses. We're trying to gather our own. People to prove that they have seen Renesmee grow and learn. People who have seen her adapt to our ways of life. Hopefully, we'll be able to convince the Volturi that we are innocent," He said, but didn't sound very confident. I wouldn't blame him. It was rare that the Volturi listened to anyone but themselves. The Cullens had all been sentenced to die, and die they would.

"We can help you," I said out of nowhere, "My sisters and I. We can pose as witnesses. We are related by blood to your family, and I know they won't sit here and let them die knowing they could have done something."

"We would be very grateful in that case," Carlisle said, smiling a little. Then, I had an even better idea.

"We know another coven, the people who changed Arissa. I'm sure she could contact them and let them know of our situation. You said you needed as many people as possible, right?" I asked. I was sure at the least Mikhail would come help. They all loved Arissa, and were close to our family. They would want to help, I was sure.

"That would be amazing. Thank you so much," Carlisle said, and I hugged him.

"Like I said Carlisle, we're all family. We are a family re-united," and I truly felt that way.

*** I know, corny ending. I thought it was cute though, and now we can get this story rolling. I'm thinking one or two updates a week from now on, most likely on Saturdays. We're almost at one hundred reviews; let's get it done! Thank you all so much for your support with this story, and I promise I won't fail you! ***


	14. Overwhelmed

**Mary POV**

**Previously: **_"I know. That's one thing that has us very concerned. They want witnesses. We're trying to gather our own. People to prove that they have seen Renesmee grow and learn. People who have seen her adapt to our ways of life. Hopefully, we'll be able to convince the Volturi that we are innocent," He said, but didn't sound very confident. I wouldn't blame him. It was rare that the Volturi listened to anyone but themselves. The Cullens had all been sentenced to die, and die they would._

_"We can help you," I said out of nowhere, "My sisters and I. We can pose as witnesses. We are related by blood to your family, and I know they won't sit here and let them die knowing they could have done something."_

_"We would be very grateful in that case," Carlisle said, smiling a little. Then, I had an even better idea._

_"We know another coven, the people who changed Arissa. I'm sure she could contact them and let them know of our situation. You said you needed as many people as possible, right?" I asked. I was sure at the least Mikhail would come help. They all loved Arissa, and were close to our family. They would want to help, I was sure._

_"That would be amazing. Thank you so much," Carlisle said, and I hugged him._

_"Like I said Carlisle, we're all family. We are a family re-united," and I truly felt that way._

ARISSA'S POV

"Hey, where did everybody go?" I called as I walked into the house. Soon enough, Mary and some other dude came walking down the stairs.

"Ew, it's Mary," I said, grinning.

"Shut up, Arissa. Do you remember Dr. Cullen?" She asked me.

"Well, on account that I never actually met him, no. I really don't," I snapped at her.

"Well, this is Dr. Carlisle Cullen. Carlisle, this is my little sister, Arissa," she introduced us and we both shook hands.

"You've grown so much since the last time I saw you," he said.

"When did I meet you?" I don't ever remember meeting him.

"It was when your mother first got sick, before we knew it was influenza. You were with Mary and Edward. You were very young," he explained.

"I wasn't _that _young," I mumbled.

"Could've fooled me," Mary scoffed. Man, she was looking for a nice punch to the face right about now.

"You two got along a lot better back then as well," Carlisle added.

"Yeah. Well, apparently I was young," I said, "Young people know nothing."

"Oh grow up, Arissa," Mary said, "I need you to do something for Edward, okay?" Why? What did Edward want?

"What does he want that he can't come ask me about?" I said. It wasn't like I hadn't talked to him for 102 years or anything.

"You're still in contact with Mikhail and his family, right?" She asked.

"Of course, they're my family too," I said, shocked that she wouldn't already know that I had their numbers.

"You need to call them and ask them if they would come serve as witnesses to the Cullen family on behalf of Renesmee," she said.

"Whoa, wait a minute…. what?"

"You're the one who found out that the Volturi were coming for the Cullens. They're coming because they believe she's an immortal child when she isn't, she just appears as one. They are gathering witnesses so that they can prove she is growing and maturing each day. They are hoping that that will be enough to save their family," Mary explained, "If they don't, then they will all die. Us included."

"Why would we die?" I asked her.

"Because we're going to serve as witnesses," she said.

"You had no right to make that kind of decision without us there, Mary!" I yelled, the Volturi weren't going to have the chance to kill her because she'd be long gone by the time that they showed up.

"Why? You don't want to protect your brother? Your niece? Your family?" she retaliated.

"Of course I do, but what about Mia? What about Layla? Are they really going to want to die for this family? Do you really want to die for this family?" I said.

"Yes! I would die for this family! They're _my_ family!" She screamed.

"You've just condemned us all to death, and didn't even ask us if we wanted to die!" I screamed. I was dry sobbing now; I didn't care who was watching. I didn't care about anything anymore.

"I didn't think you were so selfish, Arissa. I knew you were a lot of things, but I didn't think you were selfish. If you want to run, then run, but don't you dare ever come back," she warned.

"I'm not running away, but you don't have to worry about hearing from me again. I thought I hated you before, but that was minimum to the way I feel now. And guess what? _You're_ going to be the one who explains to Mia and Layla that we're all going to die. We never should have come here," I said, "I never should have come home."

I didn't even know where I was running, but I ran. I ran to the river and sat down on the riverbank. I didn't want to talk to anyone right now. I just curled up into a ball and started dry sobbing again. I have never felt so overwhelmed in my life.

"Arissa, darlin'?" It was Jasper. I didn't have to even look around. His southern accent made it clear that it was him. I couldn't have looked him in the face anyway. I knew that he heard everything. I knew that Mia probably heard everything. I honestly didn't care.

"Arissa," he said again, coming up behind me and sitting in front of me. He pulled my hands apart and held them in his. He tried to pull my chin up so I would look at him, but I turned away.

"Arissa, please look at me," he begged. I looked up, but only for a second.

"I hate her," I said, finally.

"No you don't," he said.

"I do. I hate her, and she hates me. She always has. I've just learned to ignore it until now. I've never hated her. I've argued with her, but somewhere, I could always find love for her. I can't anymore. She always argues with me, she always bosses me around. She hasn't even told me that she loved me since I left her," I cried.

"She's scared, Arissa. She's scared, and it's coming out as cold. She controls you because she doesn't want to loose you again. You were all she had left after Edward and your parents died, and then you left. She was all alone. She doesn't want to be alone again."

"What does that have to do with me?" I asked.

"Because you're scared too," he explained, "Only you're scared, and it's coming out as hate. You're so used to having to be strong, you don't know how to be scared, so you automatically switch to the next thing you can think of. When it comes to your sister, it's easiest to hate."

"You think you're so smart, don't you," I spat, standing up, "You've known me for what, a day? And you think you can come in here and tell me what I'm feeling and how I'm coping. Well guess what, buddy? You know nothing. You know nothing…" I trailed off unable to say anymore and I collapsed into his arms crying.

"It's okay," he said, "it's okay."

"It's not okay," I whined. I hated feeling this weak, but with him, it was okay.

"Yes it is; it'll all be okay baby. It'll be okay," I shook my head as he said that. How could everything be okay? I wanted to die, I've always wanted to die, and now I'm going to die and I don't want to. I finally have the opportunity to have a family and a life again and it's all getting taken away from me. It isn't fair, and it is certainly not okay.

"How is she?" I heard someone ask. It wasn't a girl, so I was assuming it was Edward, but I wasn't sure. I didn't really care anyway.

"She's fragile, Edward. Be careful," Jasper told him, then put his head on mine, "Darlin'? Edward's here, and he wants to talk to you, is that okay?" I nodded no only because I didn't want Jasper to leave. I didn't want to move.

"He can stay," Edward said, answering my thoughts. I think I felt Jasper smile a little bit, but I couldn't be sure.

"Are you okay, Ari?" He asked me, coming down to the ground and playing with my hair like he used to do when we were children. It calmed me down then and it was calming me down now.

"Do I look okay?" I asked him, scoffing. Jasper pulled me tighter to his chest.

"I owe you an apology, Ari. It was my fault that Mary didn't tell you about mom and I. I made her promise not to tell you until it was absolutely necessary. We both understood that you would hate her instead, but it really was my idea and my fault."

I couldn't respond to that. There was too much on my mind right now to process it. I felt like my mind was just going to shut down and collapse at any minute. I started breathing faster and gripping onto Jasper tighter. I couldn't do this. Not right now.

"She's overwhelmed, Edward. Give her one thing at a time. Let her calm down first, then you two can talk later on," Jasper said.

"It's okay, I understand," Edward said, and put my hair down, "I love you, Ari. I never stopped and I am so sorry about everything you've been through because of me."


	15. Gramps

"Well, then let's go and ask him, and hurry up. I want some alone time with my _mate._ Not boyfriend, _mate._" I tried to emphasize the word so that Jasper would back off. Even he knew that he couldn't control love. Plus, he owed me for stealing my best friend.

It may or may not have worked. Jasper was crowding me the same way that Tyler was, but in an over-protective brother way, not a possessive boyfriend way like Tyler. Edward tailed behind, trying to give us all some space. He was probably happy that Jasper would be too busy watching over me rather than flirting with Arissa, whom I kept forgetting was Edward's sister. I wonder if it's the same thing between them that it is for Jasper, Tyler, and I.

When I got back to the house, I saw Mary sitting down on the couch with Carlisle rubbing her back. She looked terrible and I bet if she could be crying she would be.

"What the hell happened?" I asked, looking from Jasper and Edward to Mary and Carlisle.

"Amelia, we need to talk," Mary said. That was all she said, which worried me in so many ways.

"Where's Arissa?" I asked automatically. Mary acted like she hated her sister, but she didn't. She loved her so much; loosing Arissa is her only fear. It was the only thing that would make her look as devastated as she did now.

"I don't know. She ran away."

"What the hell happened, Mary," I growled, and I felt Tyler put his hand on my shoulder.

"Edward, Jasper, you should be able to find her," Carlisle spoke up, "I can't imagine she went that far, she just needed time to herself. Edward, you understand the situation. I'm going to stay here with Mary and Amelia incase any questions arise."

"Okay, Carlisle," Edward said, and him and Jasper raced out the door.

"Alright, they're gone," I said, trying to keep my cool, "now tell me what the hell happened to Arissa," I practically yelled.

"The Cullens are in a bit of a situation…" Mary started, looking at me carefully. I shrugged as to say, _so what?_

"The Volturi are coming to destroy Renesmee, Bella and Edward's daughter. They need witnesses to show that Renesmee is in fact a vampire/human hybrid and not an immortal child," Mary explained.

"Why do they need witnesses? Can't they just show the Volturi that she isn't an immortal? Clearly, she ain't no vamp," I said, carelessly, earning a glare from Mary.

"That's just it," Carlisle said, "We need witnesses to make them listen. The punishment for creating an immortal child is death, Amelia, and if we can't convince them that she isn't a vampire child, we could very well all die trying to save her."

"So you're asking me to die in honor of some brat I don't even know?" I asked. No wonder Arissa had freaked out. Granted, it was her niece, but still. We barely knew this family. Was it really fair that they were asking us to die for them?

"In no way do you need to die," Carlisle said quickly, "Arissa couldn't stay calm enough for this part, but please, listen carefully. You only need to speak on behalf of Renesmee. Be there to try and convince the Volturi that she isn't immortal. If it turns into a fight, you are free to leave. We won't judge you in any way."

"Let me guess, you already said we would do this?" I asked Mary.

"Yes, and I know that it was selfish, but this is my family. This is _our_ family. Is it wrong to want to protect them?" She said, standing up.

"What you did was stupid and ignorant," I told her, getting right up to her face, "It could've cost us our lives too," She bowed her head down knowing that she was wrong, "But I'm in."

"Seriously?" Mary perked up.

"Yeah, what the hell. Maybe I'll even throw Rissy a twenty and get her in the party too," I smiled, and Mary came up and hugged me.

"Thank you so much, you don't know how much this means to my family and I," Carlisle said.

"Aw, get in here, Gramps," I said to him and pulled him into the group hug. Then, Tyler went ahead and cleared his throat, thus ruining the moment.

"_Why _on _earth_ do I love you?" I asked, turning around to face him.

"Because I'm a super sexy vampire that saved your ass multiple times and you owe me," he smiled grinned, pecking my lips.

"Yeah, right," I scoffed, then turned to Carlisle, "Alright, Gramps, I'm doing a favor for you, now you owe me."

"Anything you like, Amelia, I'm in your debt," Carlisle said seriously, but Mary laughed.

"Be careful, Carlisle…" she warned, "You never know with this one."

"Shut up, Mary," I snapped, then smiled sweetly at Carlisle, "Don't fear, Gramps. Poor Tyler here just needs a place to stay for a little bit, and I thought as his girlfriend, it would only be right for him to stay with me. He's willing to change his diet, as well as pay a possible rent."

"Hey!" Tyler said, finally speaking up.

"Do you want a place to live?" I asked him.

"Yes…"

"Then shut up!" I said, and looked to Carlisle, pleading.

"Of course, Amelia. It's only fair."

"Yes!" I said, and hugged Tyler. Tyler was going to live with me, and Jasper would just have to deal with it.


	16. Selfish

ARISSA'S POV

I stayed in the forest all night long. I didn't talk to anyone after Edward I just sat there. I didn't even say anything to Jasper no matter how much he begged. It was about six in the morning before I moved at all. Before that, I was just there. Just breathing. Barely living, just existing.

I pulled out my cell phone and started dialing.

"Who are you calling?" Jasper asked, standing up so he could look at me better.

"Mikhail," I said, sharply, motioning for Jasper to shut up while I talked on the phone.

"_Zdrastvooytye?" _Mikhail answered in Russian.

"Hey, it's Arya. We need to talk, put me on speaker phone," I said, sharply.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Peachy, now could you get the girls? I need to get moving soon."

"They're here," he said, and I heard some beeping, telling me that he finally got the phone on speaker.

"Hello, ladies, how are you?" I asked them.

"Very well, thank you Arissa. What is the matter?" I heard Evelina ask. Man, I missed her so much.

"Look, you know the Volturi, right?" I asked them.

"Of course, who doesn't?" Elya said, getting her two-bits in.

"Well, they're giving us some trouble, and we are looking for witnesses to help us out. Please, let me finish explaining before you make your decision first, though. It's kind of complicated."

"Of course, Arissa," Evelina said.

"Okay, so my brother Edward, who is a vampire, had a kid with this girl Bella when she was human. Surprisingly, it didn't kill her, but now she's a vampire too. Are you still with me?"

"Not really, but keep going," Mika spoke up.

"Okay, so this other vampire, Irina," I looked at Jasper to make sure I got the name right, and he nodded in confirmation, "Well, she saw the baby, Renesmee, and thought she was an immortal child so she reported my family to the Volturi. Now, they're coming with the entire guard and all of the wives and want to kill us all," I explained. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be.

"So what do you want us to do?" Mika asked, "Head over to Italy and tell them to back off?"

"No, what we are _asking_ you to do is to come to Washington and pose as witnesses saying that you've seen Renesmee grow and mature and swear on your life that she is not an immortal child. Keep in mind that you are in no way obliged to anything. We don't want you to do anything that could get you hurt, and if you come, there is a fair chance they will kill you too," I said. I had to make sure all areas of the situation were covered, even the less pleasurable aspects.

"We're in," Mikhail said.

"Maybe you should talk it over with everyone else, Mik. This is a serious commitment," I said. If they were going to do this it was going to be on their own accord, not my pleading.

"Listen up, Riya," Mika said, "This dude Edward, he's your brother?" She asked.

"Yes, Edward is my biological brother," I said, softly.

"Then that makes Renes…whatever your niece, right?" She asked again.

"Yes, biological," I said again, as if it weren't real that I had any biological relatives left.

"Then she's our niece too. I didn't bring you into this family to just leave you on the side of the road in pieces. If she's your family, she's our family. That's the commitment we made, and we understand that," She said.

"Thanks," I said, unable to say anything else.

"We'll be there by tomorrow night, okay?" Evelina said.

"Yeah, thanks," I said again.

God, they make me feel so selfish.

How could I have said those things to my own family? They are coming here to risk their lives for people they didn't even know because they had a bond to me. I couldn't even find it in me to risk my own life for my _biological_ niece. They made me realize what I hadn't realized before. It wasn't about me, or what I wanted. It was about her. Renesmee, the girl who had won over Layla and Mary's hearts from the minute they walked through the door. Renesmee, who Mimi was sure to teach how to pick up boys on a night out when she was older. Renesmee, my biological niece who was sentenced to die in less than four months.

"What are you thinking?" Jasper asked me, sensing my discomfort.

"I'm thinking I need to go find Mary," I said, and ran back to the house, Jasper as close behind as possible.


	17. Dangerous

LAYLA'S POV

It was finally Friday, and things had been going pretty decently after all of the drama that had occurred in the Cullen house in the past week. Tyler was living with us, much to Jasper's dismay, but he kept quiet because he knew that whatever argument he made against them, Edward would use against him and Arissa. Mary and Arissa had forgiven each other, and they we were all going to fight the Volturi when they came. Carlisle, Esme, and Emmett left on Tuesday to go find some nomads to act as witnesses. Jasper was supposed to go, but he didn't want to leave Arissa behind.

The Denali clan arrived on Wednesday, and fell in love with Renesmee after realizing she wasn't an immortal child. Tanya seemed jealous of Bella and Edward, but she didn't seem to mind all that much by the end of the day. Carmen and Eleazar were also great, and they spent a lot of time with Mia and Tyler, who both spoke Spanish.

Yesterday, Mikhail and his family came. I was surprised at how little I knew about them all. Arissa was ecstatic, to say the least. When she saw them pull in, she ran right outside to see them and jumped into Mikhail's arms. I didn't know they had been that close. Mary also went out to greet them, but she was not as eager as Arissa. They too have fallen in love with baby Renesmee.

As for me? I've spent just about every minute with Seth that I possibly could. He spent a lot of time over at the Cullen house because of Jake, who imprinted on Renesmee. Sometimes they were at Edward and Bella's cottage, and I would go over just to see Seth. We hadn't had our first "official" date yet, but I felt that I had known him for my whole life. It was a good feeling.

I was in the guest room that the Cullen's had been letting me stay in when Arissa came up and started picking out dresses.

"What are you doing?" I asked her.

"I'm helping you find an outfit. You've been up here for three hours now, and you still can't find anything. Try this on," she handed me a slender black dress with frills on top. It looked more like something she would wear rather than me.

"It's just the movies, it isn't a semi-formal. Jeans and a shirt would suffice," I told her, hanging the dress back up.

"There is never a wrong time to look nice. Plus, if you wear this, you might get lucky," she smiled. Great, that's all she cared about.

"I don't want to get laid on my first date, Arissa," I groaned, pushing her to the side. I picked out a nice t-shirt and ended up wearing a nice skirt to match it. It wasn't sexy, but it wasn't casual either. It was pretty.

"_I feel pretty, oh so pretty…"_ I heard Arissa start singing behind me as I looked at myself in the mirror. I threw my brush at her, but she caught it.

"Nice try," she said.

"What are you really in here for, if not to pick out my outfit?" I had already fired her from that; the fact that she was still in here meant that it wasn't the only thing on her agenda.

"I'm here to warn you," she said, and put her hair up in a bun, showing the rest of her face. She usually wore it in a distinct way to hide the scars that covered her face and neck, but when she wore her hair up, they were the most noticeable part of her body.

"Not to get in a fight?" I said, sitting beside her.

"Do you know how I got these scars, Layla?" She asked, rolling up her sleeves as well as her pant legs. She had long jagged scars covering just about every inch of her body. Why had I never noticed these before?

"You did a lot of fighting in Russia, I assumed," I told her. Russia was a dangerous place for vampires; they were all fighting over land. Not many lived in civilized communities like Mikhail's family.

"Yes, but not with vampires. I hunted werewolves, Layla. That's how I knew the Volturi," she explained.

"Oh my god," I said. I had always known that she had some claim to the Volturi, but I didn't know that she was a part of them. A spy.

"Yeah, I know. In all seriousness, though, they are dangerous. I've seen them, Layla. I've seen them kill people. Kill vampires. I know that Seth is just a shape shifter, but they're still related somehow. There's still a significant chance you could get hurt, and I don't want you to end up looking like me. Having to hide your whole life," she said, sadly.

"But you're so pretty," I said. And she was. She had a beautiful body, and long, beautiful hair. She was perfect to everyone around her. She hid the scars so well.

"It's because I know how to hide, Layla. I don't want to be teaching you how to. I know how to style myself so that every single scar is hidden. I know how to position myself so no one will see who I really am. Dangerous."

"He wouldn't hurt me, Arissa," I said, finally.

"Not consciously," she said, "I've seen the way you two act around each other, and it is so obvious that he loves you, but someday, somewhere, you're going to say something, or do something, that he isn't going to like. He's going to get mad, and there is a good chance he could lose control. When that happens, when he phases, there's no saying what he'll do. You're a vampire, he's a werewolf. He was created to kill you, and that's the truth of it," she said.

"He wouldn't hurt me," I said again. Truth be told, she was absolutely right. That didn't make it any easier to hear, though. I loved Seth, and he loved me. I didn't want to believe that one moment we could be kissing, and the next minute we'd be fighting for our lives. I was in denial.

"Whatever you want to believe, Layla, just don't get hurt," she said, and walked out of the bedroom. She came back a few seconds later.

"By the way, you look beautiful. Have a good time tonight, okay?" she asked.

"Thanks, and I will," I said, smiling again.


	18. Some Things Just Don't Change

(A/N: Because of time constraints and lack of inspiration for this story, I'm going to just write from Arissa's POV from here on out, filling in the blanks for the other characters as the story goes on. The story is mostly Arissa based anyways, so this shouldn't be too much of a problem. )

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Twilight

"Whatever you want to believe, Layla, just don't get hurt," I said, walking out of the bedroom. I didn't want to argue with her on her boyfriend, her choice was her choice. Then, I went back in.

"By the way, you look beautiful. Have a good time tonight, okay?" I told her. Just because I didn't like Seth doesn't mean that I wanted her to be miserable, which was how I left her.

"Thanks, and I will," I said, smiling again. I knew she would. As much as I hated to admit it, Seth _had _been good to her in the past week, so I had no reason to believe that she wouldn't have a good time with him tonight.

"Is that really all true?" Jasper asked me when I walked back downstairs, wrapping his arms around me. I looked around and a majority of the people who were still living with us were sitting in the living room, even Edward and Bella. Naturally, they had all heard what I said to Layla.

"Yes," I said, not revealing anything else. I wanted to keep this part of my life away from my family. Ignorance is bliss, they say.

"Why didn't you tell us? Why didn't you tell _me?" _Mary said. She was sitting next to Mikhail, who was awfully close to her. Then, she turned to Mikhail, "Did _you _know?" She asked him, pulling away.

"Don't blame Mikhail, Mary," I told her, "It was none of your business." Mikhail's either, but since Mary had been so keen on having him bring me home, he had no choice but to come find me, hence, find the werewolves.

"You bet I'm going to blame Mikhail, and you bet it's my business!" She said, standing up and flipping out.

"You're my sister, Arissa, whether you like it or not. You are _my _responsibility. I know that you could care less about me, but if I suddenly found out that you were dead, I would actually be upset about it!"

I looked over at Edward and Bella, who were standing in the corner. I knew that he was thinking something along the same lines as Mary, but was staying quiet because he didn't really get a say in this since we all thought he was dead.

_You're right, _I thought, _you don't get a say in this._He nodded his head showing me that he understood. Then, he whispered something to Bella and they left.

"Look, I don't want to fight about this," I said after Mary had calmed down a little, thanks to Jasper and Mikhail, "I know that you all think that I'm a child, but I'm not. I have the right to make my own choices. Even if I didn't, what's done is done. I didn't tell you because nothing I said would have changed the way I felt about it. I love you all, but the past is the past. So let's move on and forget that I was some psycho killer, okay?"

"I think that Arissa has a point," Jasper said, stepping in at last. I could still tell he was pissed, though, "It's all over now. Let's move on and focus on the task at hand. Finding witnesses to stand up to the Volturi and keep Nessie safe."

After that, there was a knock on the door and Seth and Jacob came waltzing inside.

"Hey guys, family meeting?" Seth asked. As soon as he spoke, Layla came rushing down the stairs. She mouthed _Sorry _to me, not knowing that I didn't blame her for anything. It wasn't like I could keep it a secret forever. I shook my head at her. She smiled.

"Care to share?" I heard Jacob pipe up from his spot on the floor with Renesmee.

"Nope," I said, popping the "p." Edward rolled his eyes as he walked back in.

"Have fun tonight, guys," I said to Seth and Layla. Everyone else showered them with their goodbyes and good lucks, and then Layla and Seth walked out the door, leaving Jacob with us.

"Hey, you forgot something!" I yelled back to them, but they had already pulled out of the driveway, "Damn." I said. Everyone except Jacob started laughing, even Renesmee. She really was something special.

"Well, I see that you haven't changed, Arya," Mikhail smiled.

"Alright, spill. What's going on between you two?" I asked him and Mary. They looked at each other and started laughing.

"Was it really that obvious?" Mary said, giggling. Whoa, Mary _giggled. _Edward laughed and widened his eyes. _I could get used to you being a mind reader_. He smiled and rolled his eyes. Clearly _that_ hadn't changed.

"It's been obvious since Riss started taking trips to Russia, and you using that as an excuse to call Mikky every day," Mia scoffed.

"Really?" Mikhail said, "And since when am I Mikky?"

"Since…oh…about a minute ago," Mia smiled. I high-fived her and we started laughing.

Sure enough, when I looked at the clock it was eight, and there was another knock at the door.

"It's show time, guys," I said, and took my spot next to Jasper an Mia, waiting for Edward and Bella to show off poor Renesmee to yet another coven looking to destroy the Volturi. Mary went to open the door, and when she did, Jasper's eyes grew wide.

"Peter? Charlotte?" He said, and started smiling.

"Howdy, Major," The man smiled, and bro-hugged Jasper. The girl did the same, except they hugged like any friends would.

"Who sent you?" Jasper asked.

"Some weird chick with short hair, kind of hot, actually," Peter said, earning a slap from Charlotte.

"Alice," She confirmed, "who is very well, except extremely stressed."

"That's good to here," Edward said from the corner of the room.

"So to what do we owe the occasion? I fear this is not a social visit?" Charlotte said, mostly due to the fact Peter and Jasper were catching up and not paying attention to anyone else.

"Unfortunately, that's true Charlotte," Edward said, walking closer to her, "You see, we've run into an argument with the Volturi-"

"Damn bastards," I heard Jacob scoff. Edward through him a glare, and I told him to shut up.

"Anyways, the Volturi have been told that we have an immortal child in our midst. We need witnesses to help prove that the child we have is not an immortal child, but the biological daughter of my wife, Bella and I."

"How is that possible?" Peter questioned, getting back into the conversation.

"Renesmee was conceived while Bella was still a human. Bella gave birth to Renesmee as a human, and we changed her shortly thereafter," Edward explained, then turned to Bella, "Bella, may we see Renesmee?"

"Of course," she said, and brought Renesmee over.

"This child is only a baby?" Charlotte asked, looking shocked.

"Only about two months old," Bella said, "she grows very fast."

"Clearly," Peter said, "She has a beating heart," he added.

"Yes, so she cannot be immortal," Edward said.

"She even smells like a human," Charlotte noted.

"Exactly. Looks like a vampire, grows and smells like a human, and has the capability to eat like them both," Edward told them.

"May I hold her?" Charlotte asked.

"Of course," Edward said.

The questions kept coming as well as the answers, but I didn't stick around. This was the same conversation I had been hearing all week, and I really didn't need to hear it again. If anything, I needed some air. With Peter and Charlotte here, I was hoping that I would be able to get some alone time with Mia, something we hadn't been able to do in a long time. I just hoped that Jasper wouldn't hound me anymore about my werewolf hunting past. I know, highly unlikely. But a girl can dream, can't she?

I looked up at the stars and noticed that the sky was exceptionally bright tonight. You could see many of the stars perfectly, not any clouds, which was rare for Washington, so I had noticed. I lay down on the grass in the backyard just looking at the beautiful sky.

"I knew I'd find you out here," I heard someone-Edward-say a little while later.

"Why?" I asked him.

"When you were little, you would always go outside and look at the stars, especially when you were stressed. The night sky always calmed you down. Apparently, it still does," He noted.

"Yeah, I guess so. To say that the past few weeks hadn't been stressful would be a lie."

"The biggest lie ever," Edward said, laying down next to me.

"Say it," I told him.

"Say what?" He asked.

"Everything you wanted to say when Mary and I were fighting. Everything you've wanted to say since I've got here. We haven't had time to talk about any of it, so just say it," I told him.

"I missed you," He said, "Sometimes I missed you so much that I could hardly stand it. I tried to move on, but every time I did I would always see something that would remind me of you. I'm sorry about everything that happened, but you know that. I could sit here and tell you everything that I want to say, but half of it you've already heard and the other half you probably don't want to hear.

"There's a thing about being a vampire, it just gives you a new chance at life. A new life, period. You were in one life, while I was in another. I couldn't take that away from you. I watched you grow, and I was so afraid that I was going to watch you die. But you didn't. I didn't know where you went after Mikhail and Mika took you to their home. I thought you were dead, so I left. I started my new life with Carlisle. Now, we have a second chance at a life together, and I don't think that it's a coincidence. I think that it's time to make amends and move on. I love you, Arissa, and I love Mary. We're together now, forever. I wouldn't trade this for anything, not even to be human again, and that's the truth of it."

"That's deep, Edward," I said, breaking the awkwardness.

"Are you okay?" He asked, finally.

"Is anyone okay?" I retaliated, "We could all be dead by spring. Everyone is on their wit's end. It isn't fair, but it's our life. Just when it gets good, it's gone. That's how my life has been from the beginning. Honestly? I'm glad that it's almost over. I'm not suicidal or anything, I just don't want to have to deal with it anymore. The pain of living is finally going to go away."

"Arissa, you can't think like that," Edward said.

"I just can't loose any of this, Edward. If I have to, I'm glad I'll be dead by the time that it's over. If we survive, awesome. If we don't, sure. I guess I just don't care anymore."

Edward tried to say something else, but I did what I do best. I got up and walked off before anyone else could ask any questions. I guess that people were right when they said that I was emotionally unstable as a human. I guess people were right when they said I was crazy as a human. I guess some things just don't change, even when you're not a human.


	19. Who Cares?

** Heya! Well, I have no excuse for the lack in updating; I just haven't been on top of my game lately. Luckily, I have this chapter to give you now. With that said, I am going to be making yet another change to this story. From the beginning, I have always thought Arissa as the main character, and I have always felt drawn to her story more than the others. So from now on, since writing this story has become such a long term thing for me, I'm just going to be writing from **Arissa's Perspective** from now on. I hope that this doesn't upset anyone too much, but it's the way I feel that this story needs to be told. I will not forget the other characters, I just feel that it's Arissa's story now. Thanks for understanding :D **

**Arissa's POV**

I was walking through the woods when I heard someone creep up behind me. I knew exactly who it was, but I chose to ignore them and keep walking anyways. There was a reason that I walked away from Edward, and it wasn't so people could try talking to me again. I just wanted to be alone for a bit and decipher through everything that had happened to me in the past few weeks.

"Arissa," my stalker called to me. I continued to ignore them.

"Arissa, I know you can hear me, so I'm gonna talk anyways. Things have been rough for you the past few weeks, I get it. It's been rough for all of us. Do you actually think that I wanted anything to do with my brother after what he did to me? I still haven't talked to him. It doesn't bother me, none. But you can't do this again. You can't run away from everyone who is trying to help you. You have so many people here who care about you. And if you don't think so, then you are terribly, terribly wrong. Please don't run away again. Because even if you won't talk to me, I still need you around for _my_ sanity. I love you, Arissa. You're my sister."

"You suck," I told her as I jumped out of my hiding place, practically crying. There was one thing that Mia was good at, and it was hitting you where it hurt. Knowing what to say to make you feel your highest or your lowest.

"At least I have a boyfriend now to practice on," Mia said, laughing.

"Oh Mimi," I said, using her pet name.

"Oh Riss," she countered.

"Are you gonna camp out with me all night?" I asked her.

"Whatever it takes. I'm not leaving you alone this time, boo," She smiled.

"Well, we'd better be going back, then," I told her.

"I thought you wanted to run away," she asked, "don't let me stop you."

"Well, to begin with, I wasn't going to run away. I just needed some space from the baby drama. Second of all, Jasper and Tyler are probably freaking out looking for us," Mia smiled.

"Let them," she said, "they don't own us. Come on, I know just the perfect place for you right now."

"What?" I said, shocked that Mia would pull us away from our boys like that.

"Trust me," She said, and of course, I followed her blindly.

A few minutes later, we pulled up to this run down bar in Port Angeles. It was quaint.

"What is this?" I asked Mia. We did not look like we were old enough to drink, and we had to drop our IDs back in Chicago so no one could trace us to Forks.

"A bar," she said, and started walking inside, "are you coming or not?"

"Mia, are you insane? We're gonna get caught!" I told her in a voice too low for humans to hear.

"Trust me," she said again. Truthfully, I was starting to doubt her, but I followed her anyways.

"I need two of the strongest things you've got," She told the bartender.

"I need her ID," the bartender told Mia, referring to me.

"Here you go, Xander," she smiled. There was so much that I didn't know right now, it was hurting my head.

"Thanks," he said, and went to fix our drinks.

"What the hell?" I asked Mia.

"What?" she asked, looking shocked.

"How the hell do you know this place, and how the hell do you know the bartender?"

"Oh, I come here all the time. Why do you think you can never find me at night?" she asked, smiling.

"You know what, scratch that, I don't want to know," I said. I guess this was going to be one of those times where I was going to have to be the responsible one. Cue sarcastic _yay._

"Here you go, ladies. That will be 20$," Xander said, looking at Mia and handing me the drinks.

"Put it on my tab," Mia said, and dragged me off into the center of the party zone.

"You have a tab?" I asked her, having to scream because of the loud music.

"You said you didn't want to know," she said, laughing. I took a sip of whatever Xander gave me and it felt like I just drank fire.

"What the hell is this?" I asked her, dancing now.

"I don't know!" She laughed, "Isn't Xander great?"

"Yeah, I guess," I said, a little under my breath. I took another sip of the mystery drink. Holy. Crap.

I had no clue what time it was when Xander finally took our car keys. We were so wasted, I didn't even think that Mia and I _combined _could flirt our way out of this one.

"You wanna make a call?" Xander asked, handing us the phone. Who would possibly pick us up from a bar at this hour? Who would we _want _picking us up from the bar at this hour?

"Na, we'll walk. I don't live too far from here," Mia said. She was completely wasted, probably on the verge of passing out soon.

"Are you sure?" Xander asked, looking at me. I was wasted, but it wasn't nearly as bad as Mia.

"Yeah, I think we'll be fine," I told him, "Cummon, Meems, let's go."

"Bye bye Xander!" Mia said as we walked out the door.

"That. Was. AWESOME!" Mia yelled as we got outside. It was dark out, with no sign of light anywhere.

"Come on, Mia, we've got to get home," I told her. They were all gonna freak.

"Don't be silly," she said, "we never have to go back! We could party like this forever!" she yelled.

"Mia, shut up!" I said. How drunk she was _really _worried me. I needed to get home; I could already feel the oncoming nausea. I pulled out my cell phone and called Jasper.

"Ari? Where are you?" he asked me, along with another hundred questions.

"Jasper, shut up!" I told him before continuing, "Mia took me to a bar, and we're really out of it. We're in Port Angeles. Can you come get us?"

"Ari…you shouldn't be drinking like that…" he said, "but yeah, I'll come get you."

"Thanks, babe," I told him, and hung up.

"Thanks, babe," Mia mocked me.

"Dammit Mia, why do you always get me into things like this!" I yelled at her, starting to get annoyed.

"Calm down, Ms. Cranky pants," Mia laughed.

"Just shut up!" I yelled at her, "You can't handle your problem, that's why you just get drunk! You're no better than I am! It's why you haven't had a decent conversation with Jasper. It's why you won't talk to me about Russia. What the hell, Mia?"

"You think you know everything about me, don't you?" Mia asked, getting pissed off now.

"Well, there isn't much to know!" I told her, "You don't have much of a life!"

"Well you know what, Arissa? Fuck. You." She said, and walked off into the woods. I felt terrible about what I said, and I really didn't mean it at all. I didn't know what I was doing, I just did it. It's why I hated getting drunk. I don't get all silly and happy like Mia. I get angry and mean and I say stuff like that.

I didn't even realize I had fallen to the ground until someone-Jasper, I'm presuming-picked me up.

"It's okay, I've got you. It's okay," he whispered in my ear when I tried to get out of his grip. I didn't deserve him; I didn't deserve anything that I had. I was an evil demon sent from hell.

"Stop, Arissa, it's okay, you're not in trouble," Jasper said, placing me in his car. He went back outside and looked around a bit, but he came back.

"Arissa, where's Mia?" He asked me, concern leaking out of his voice.

"We had a fight," I managed to get out. I wasn't capable of many words.

"Where did she go?" he asked me.

"I don't know," I admitted. I just wanted to go home and lie down. Unfortunately, I wasn't lucky enough to sleep, but it doesn't mean I wasn't going to try.

"Arissa, please darlin' where is Mia?" he asked me.

"I don't know!" I said, annoyed now, "And I don't really care."

"She's your best friend," Jasper said.

"She was," I grumbled.

"Arissa…" he warned. I just ignored him and put my head down. I was in an extremely awkward position in his car, and I wanted to get going. Who cares about Mia anymore. Who cares about anything anymore.

"I love you," Jasper said before starting his car and driving off. I wasn't exactly coherent, but for the whole ride I could feel Jasper's hand rubbing my back as he was driving. And admittedly, it did make me feel a little better.


	20. Homecoming

Arissa POV

When I got back to the house, I went straight to the toilet. Whoever said that vampires couldn't get wasted was wrong, terribly wrong, because that was most definitely what I was. Unfortunately since my diet consisted mainly of blood, that was what came up. To any human, it probably looked like I should be dying.

Jasper stayed and held my hair as I puked, he even rubbed my back. All in all, I knew he wanted to be out with Tyler looking for Mia. Of course he would, Mia was his sister.

"Go." I told him.

"Go where, darlin'?" He asked me.

"Go find Mia," I told him, getting annoyed.

"I thought you didn't care about Mia anymore?" He countered.

"She's your sister. I know you're worried about her. Go find her."

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine, go." I told him, sternly.

"I've got her Jazz" A new voice said.

"Thanks, Edward," He said, gave me a kiss on the cheek, and ran out.

"Why are you here?" I asked him. It was almost two in the morning. I would assume that he would be with Bella.

"We were worried about you. After you walked out, Bella made me come be part of the search party. When Jasper got the call, I wanted to stay to make sure you were alright." He explained.

"Thanks," I smiled, before throwing up some more.

About three hours later, I was lying down in Jasper's bed. My head was throbbing, and I wished to hell I could sleep it off. I tried everything; every position. Nothing worked. Eventually, I gave up and went downstairs. I shouldn't have.

"You stupid, idiotic, irresponsible girl!" Mary started yelling immediately once she saw me. She flinched a little when she saw how messed up I looked, but continued all the same. Jasper and Tyler were standing in the corner –with no Mia.

"How could you be so irresponsible? You can't just go out and get drunk when things don't work out! I know we're vampires and a part of a super race, but that is not an excuse! Do you know how long we spent looking for you yesterday? Hours! And guess what, now Mia's missing too. Jesus Christ Arissa! Don't you ever use your head?" Mary just wouldn't stop. I wanted to break down right there, but I knew it would be no use. Mary hated me either way. I looked at Jasper for a second, and instantly wished I hadn't. His eyes were filled with sadness and worry for his sister. I didn't blame him.

"I'm sorry," Was all I said.

"Yeah, you should be," Mary snapped.

"Mary, stop," Edward ordered. I forgot how scary he could be.

"Stay out of this, Edward." Mary fought back.

"No. She feels terrible. Last night was miserable for Ari too. She feels bad enough as it is, so stop rubbing it in. When she feels better I'm sure she'll go and find Mia and make amends." Edward said, looking to me expectantly.

"Of course," I said, overly enthusiastic.

"She's a child, Edward, she always has been. Now I'm convinced she always will be." Mary said, and walked out the door.

"Save it," I told whoever cared enough to listen. I wasn't a child. She wouldn't be able to live with what I've seen. What I've been through. From birth I've been thrown into my own personal hell, something she's never experienced. The truth was, I wasn't a child. I was just too old for my age.

"Hello Cullen household!" someone yelled, and when I turned to snap at who I assumed would be Layla, I found a short haired, pixie girl looking up at me. Beside her was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. She had long flowy blonde hair and was tall. She was a supermodel, in my opinion. I almost asked who it was, but then a rush of excitement came along and people shouted their names enough times to make me feel like I've known her my whole life.

Alice and Rosalie were back.


	21. A Hater

"You stupid, idiotic, irresponsible girl!" Mary started yelling immediately once she saw me. She flinched a little when she saw how messed up I looked, but continued all the same. Jasper and Tyler were standing in the corner –with no Mia.

"How could you be so irresponsible? You can't just go out and get drunk when things don't work out! I know we're vampires and a part of a super race, but that is not an excuse! Do you know how long we spent looking for you yesterday? Hours! And guess what, now Mia's missing too. Jesus Christ Arissa! Don't you ever use your head?" Mary just wouldn't stop. I wanted to break down right there, but I knew it would be no use. Mary hated me either way. I looked at Jasper for a second, and instantly wished I hadn't. His eyes were filled with sadness and worry for his sister. I didn't blame him.

"I'm sorry," Was all I said.

"Yeah, you should be," Mary snapped.

"Mary, stop," Edward ordered. I forgot how scary he could be.

"Stay out of this, Edward." Mary fought back.

"No. She feels terrible. Last night was miserable for Ari too. She feels bad enough as it is, so stop rubbing it in. When she feels better I'm sure she'll go and find Mia and make amends." Edward said, looking to me expectantly.

"Of course," I said, overly enthusiastic.

"She's a child, Edward, she always has been. Now I'm convinced she always will be." Mary said, and walked out the door.

"Save it," I told whoever cared enough to listen. I wasn't a child. She wouldn't be able to live with what I've seen. What I've been through. From birth I've been thrown into my own personal hell, something she's never experienced. The truth was, I wasn't a child. I was just too old for my age.

"Hello Cullen household!" someone yelled, and when I turned to snap at who I assumed would be Layla, I found a short haired, pixie girl looking up at me. Beside her was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. She had long flowy blonde hair and was tall. She was a supermodel, in my opinion. I almost asked who it was, but then a rush of excitement came along and people shouted their names enough times to make me feel like I've known her my whole life.

Alice and Rosalie were back.

"Rosie!" Emmett shouted, running over to his wife and embracing her.

"I've missed you, baby," Rosalie whispered into Emmett's ear.

I was too busy paying attention to Rosalie and Emmett's reunion that I didn't pay attention to what was happening right in front of me. When it became to uncomfortable to watch Rosalie and Emmett, I returned to reality and saw a pixie in my face.

"Hi, I'm Alice, it's nice to finally meet you!" She said and hugged me.

"Arissa," I said back, cautiously, "How do you know who I am?"

"I can see the future. I've known about you for a long time, I just haven't been able to tell anyone yet for obvious reasons. Time has to run its course sometimes," she laughed. "Speaking of which, I think it's about time you and Mia forgave each other," Alice told me, getting serious. I frowned.

"Nobody can find her, they don't know where she went. Jasper and Tyler are out looking for her now," I explained.

"I know, but I also know that you know where she is."

"Alice…" Edward warned.

"No, it's okay. They need to work this out on their own," Alice told him, and then turned to me, "If you think really hard about it, you can find where she is. You know her better than anyone else here, even Jasper and Tyler. When you go there, don't leave until you two have forgiven each other. You are best friends and you always have been. It is not in your best interest to let her go right now, trust me."

I tried to think about where Mia would be. Alice was right, I knew Mia better than anyone else. She was my best friend, and I needed her. With all of these changes, we needed each other.

" I know where she is," I told Edward, "I'll be back by tonight."

"Arissa, you can't just leave!" He shouted, but I ignored him, got in the car, and drove away.

I always liked watching the sunset. I don't know why. I guess it's just because it's the one thing that has never left me. No matter where I go, no matter what trouble I get in to, I know that I can always watch the sun set. It's peaceful, unlike my life. Unlike me.

"Thank you for letting me come here," I told Jacob, who was sitting beside me in his wolf form. I asked him for permission to cross into his land after I had gotten drunk. He knew I was wasted so he decided to keep an eye on me. Eventually, it turned into puppy guarding. "I know it's hard for you to trust me, to trust my sisters, but I am grateful all the same."

Jacob grunted, but I know it wasn't in response to me. He stood up and turned around, showing off his teeth. Sam was walking up with Arissa, who looked terrible.

"Easy, Jacob. She's good." Sam told him. Jacob lay back down on the ground. It was getting dark out and he was probably tired. I kind of felt bad for the kid.

"Hey Mimi," Arissa said, keeping a safe distance from me.

"Hey," I responded. I was pissed about what she said, but somewhere in me I knew she didn't mean it.

"I'm not going to sugar coat anything, because I know that you hate that. I'm going to tell it to you as it is, and you can decide if you want to come home or not. Deal?" Arissa said, taking a step closer, but never blinking.

"Deal." I told her, meeting her eyes.

"First of all, I'm sorry. I have no excuse, except for the fact that I was a bitch. What can I say? You get drunk and you are happier than you've been in decades. Me? I act like someone just told me my family had been murdered. I say stuff I don't mean, because I don't think. I was wrong. And I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I forgive you." I said to her, and she released a held breath.

"Second of all, there is a strong chance that by the end of this week, we could all be dead. You, me, Tyler, and Jasper. I don't know about you, but I want to make all the amends I can make with those I love. Jasper loves you, Meems, you need to see that. You're going to be fighting beside him soon, and you don't want to know what it's like to watch someone you love die without them knowing how much they mean to you. I'm not going to tell you what to do, but I think it's time you moved on. Forgive AND forget. He's your brother, he loves you, and he left me half assed on the toilet to go look for you. Believe it or not, he cares."

"I know." Was all I could say.

"Come home, please. I need you. We all need you." Arissa begged.

"Okay," I said. I wanted to come home more than anything, but not if there was going to be drama. All this time I thought it was everyone around me just hating on me, but I never realized that it could be me holding myself back from happiness. I wanted the happiness that Arissa had with Jasper. With Mary and Edward. I needed that. And I would fight in the next days for that, no matter what happened with the Volturi. I would not die holding a grudge, and I would not die a hater. Of that, I was sure.


End file.
